Now please turn with me in your Bible to our text for this morning to the gospel of Luke chapter 13. This morning we are going to look at verses 18 through 21. Alright, Luke chapter 13, I’m beginning in verse 18: “Now then He said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.” And again He said, “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.””. Now let us turn to God in prayer.

“Our Father in heaven, we bow before You and we come again to Your Word pleading that You might instruct us. And we pray that You’ll grant understanding. We also pray that You’ll grant us a heart of humility that would bow to the authority of Your Word that we might live a life in obedience to Your commandment and to Your will that we might live a life that is pleasing unto You. So help us and bless our time together, for we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Alright, this morning we are going to look at these actually two parables. Sometimes we have what we call the twin parables. Sometimes it comes in three like the one in the following chapter alright in chapter 15 (in Luke 15). Now but here we have a twin parable or parables that come in a pair. Now first, let us try to establish what these two parables are about. And the reason why I believe that the Lord told two parables is because He wants to emphasise the truth that He is teaching here. Now, these two parables are about the kingdom of God. So I think we can see that very clearly from the verses here.

Now in verse 18 where Jesus said: “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?”. And again in verse 20, He asks again: “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?”. And so very I think clearly that the Lord is having the kingdom of God in mind. Now Jesus is having in mind here the work of the kingdom or what we call kingdom work. I have throughout this period of time (that is during the time of the pandemic), I’ve been much concerned about this. I’ve shared this at our men’s prayer meeting.

I’ve tried to impress this upon people whom I meet along the way, whether they are pastors or ordinary church members, and it is this. That during this time where we are so concerned about our health and about death and that we will do everything as it seems to try to keep ourselves safe physically and not to forget the kingdom work and not to forget that God has given to us as a church a task, a task where is commonly known as the Great Commission. And that is kingdom work, and that is what Jesus is talking about. And kingdom work is gospel work. Kingdom work is the work of the Christian ministry. Now kingdom work is the church work. What is church work? What is the Christian ministry? Now it is about the expansion of the kingdom of God.

When we speak of the expansion of the kingdom of God, now the Bible means not simply you know this territorial aspect. We are going to win you know city by city or state by state and make them into so-called Christian states. I know that is not what the Bible is talking about. That’s not what Jesus had in mind. Kingdom of God is about the preaching of the gospel where people who are in rebellion against God are brought into submission to the lordship or the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. So it is about the rule of God. Now that is the kingdom of God. Now people rebel against that rule, but it is only through the preaching of the gospel that we bring people into submission to that rule. So in that sense, we expense the kingdom of God. So that is kingdom work.

And here in these two parables, now Jesus is talking about the pattern and the process of kingdom work. The pattern and the process of kingdom work. Now why is He doing this? He wants to help us understand how this work is to be done. And more than that, I believe He wants to encourage us about such a work because once we understand the pattern of kingdom work, the pattern of how the kingdom of God expands, then we will have a realistic expectation. So once we understand the pattern, then we will have a realistic expectation. And thereby, we would be more patient in this work. And once we understand the process (now the process of the kingdom work), then we would understand clearly how it is to be done.

So once we understand the pattern, we have realistic expectations. But once we understand the process, we understand how it works, how it is to be done. And so these then are the two things we want to think about together this morning as we consider these two parables here- the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven or the yeast. Alright, let’s begin by considering the pattern. The pattern of kingdom work or the pattern of kingdom expansion of growth of the new Christian ministry, of the gospel work. The pattern of kingdom work.

Now the overall thrust you see of both, I say that these two parables kind of teach the same thing alright. So we see that the overall thrust of both parables is actually quite plain alright. It is from small beginning. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God or the work of God will grow slowly but surely alright. Slowly but surely until His eternal purpose is complete. So that is the overall thrust of the teaching here. Now you see in verse 18 it begins in the NKJV: “Then He said” or in the other translation: “He said therefore” or “Therefore He said”. Now the word ‘therefore’ or ‘then’ in verse 18 implies a connection with the preceding verses, with the verses above.

Now Jesus’ question here when He says “what is the kingdom of God like” implies the difficulties people had in His day concerning the kingdom of God in recognising the kingdom of God or in recognising the kingdom work and how it expands. They cannot see. You see there is kingdom work, you see there is the Christian ministry, but these people found it difficult to see. Now the reason why they found it difficult to see is because they think or they’re taught that if God is powerful as He said He is, now then His church or His kingdom must grow in a powerful and massive way.

You see from the start they had that expectation that is how church grows. Or like some people may say you know in rave and wave kind of things you know. It’s going to become explosive. And we don’t see explosive growth in church. Then what kind of God are we serving? So we serve a powerful God. We expect things like that to happen. Now during Jesus’ day, the constant rejection and opposition to His ministry show that Jesus Himself was not making much headway in His own ministry. It is very clear in the Bible that Jesus came and His mission, as it were, is kingdom work. It is the preaching of the gospel. It is expansion of the kingdom of God through the preaching of the gospel.

That was clearly His ministry. And yet we see that He was not making much headway in His ministry, in His kingdom work. Now what Jesus is saying is this. All these people fail to see that one conversion is progress because, in the preceding verse, there was a conversion of a woman in verse 16: “So ought not this woman (Jesus said), being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it (He says)—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”. Now, this is in reference to this woman who has come to trust, come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are told in verse 13 when Jesus laid His hand on her “and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God”.

She was one of those many people that Jesus brought to faith in God, one of those whom Jesus saved. And what Jesus is saying that can’t you see? Can’t you recognise that this is kingdom work? The conversion of one soul is kingdom work. You see in chapter 15 and verse 7. Chapter 15 of Luke and verse 7, Jesus said this: “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”. Now, this is in relation to the parable of the lost sheep. And Jesus tells these people you people, you do not rejoice when this woman, this one lone woman who was bound for eighteen years. For all these numbers of years in her life, she lived a lost life, a hopeless life, a miserable life.

Today, there is joy in this person, and you do not see something marvellous in this. You do not see that it is one sheep that is found. You don’t rejoice in that. And verse 10: “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”. Now that is the perspective that Jesus wants the people to have that kingdom work is soul work. It’s soul winning. And every soul is precious. The angels in heaven, Jesus says here, will rejoice when one person repents. How little people you know put you know in the salvation of small things alright or little things or small numbers. See, people in these days look down on small numbers. They see, they think nothing of it.

But Jesus says well, we ought to see that this is kingdom work. Now sometimes people are so focused on building a movement. We want one day the GRC movement empire. And then we have you know we have franchises. We have GRC one, GRC two, and ten GRC’s. That is ambitious of many people. That is a false idea about kingdom work. We are not building our empires. We are not building things for ourselves. We are not making a name for ourselves. There are so many people in the world today, so many missionaries in the world today that you have not heard of, and they are doing small works in the jungles, in the remote part of Indonesia, and other places. And they are doing kingdom work. Nobody notices them. God sees. God sees. No empire.

You see, sometimes we are so focused on the mass you know, on the big thing we forgot the one soul- the one soul that needs to be saved. And so we see therefore there is a pattern that Jesus is talking about, about kingdom work. And let me just point out these three things here. You see the pattern is like this. The pattern of kingdom work is that it has a small beginning. It begins small. Small beginning. Small beginning like a mustard seed. That is what Jesus is saying. The mustard seed is a profitable way of saying something very small. That’s what Jesus is saying. That is a pattern of kingdom work.

Now there are people who get all upset when Jesus said that the mustard said was the smallest of all seeds you know in Matthew. And then they will challenge that and say: Oh, no, no. We can find another seed smaller than the mustard seed. And they got side-tracked about the size of the mustard seed versus maybe another kind of seed. Now that is to miss the point. Now sometimes we are so engrossed and get distracted by arguing this little, little things in the Bible, we missed what Jesus is saying here. Now Jesus is simply saying that this is the pattern of the kingdom work- small beginning like the mustard seed. He’s simply saying that it is something small. It begins small.

But you see, Jesus says a small seed may yield a great result. A small seed may yield a great result like this mustard seed. And you wait and it grows and it grows to something quite massive. It is not the seed, Jesus said. It is not the person. It’s not the greatness of the person. Now sometimes we think that if we do not have something great we will not produce something great. And so we need celebrities. We need a great pastor, a celebrity pastor, a well-known pastor. Then you’ll build a big church. It’s not the pastor. It’s not that person. God can use nobody. God can use a little seed. Two loaves you see, and feed thousands. And so Jesus said that is the pattern.

Think about the small seed that Jesus started with in the kingdom work. When Jesus started the kingdom work, think about the small seed that He started with. What was the small seed that Jesus had, that Jesus started with? Twelve common men. Twelve common men who became His disciples. These were the men who caught the world by surprise because when the people saw these men, they said this about them in Acts 4:13. Now this is what they said of them: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled.”. They said how can these kind of people build big churches, build the kingdom of God? These people got no degrees, no PhDs. They are nobodies.

You see they were surprised because like many people today, we always expect big people to do big things. We don’t expect a construction worker, a bus driver to do great things for God. And yet one day, we might be surprised in heaven that these are the people who will be paraded and said these are the people who are kingdom workers. We don’t recognise them, but God sees these people. A small seed. Now small seed could also refers to the gospel. You see, to many people, the gospel seems insignificant. It’s like a small seed. If you want to build big things and massive movements, you do not preach the gospel. You have to have some high-sounding philosophy. You have to have some big ideas, high-sounding concepts as it were. We want to say great things so they can build big movement. But not the gospel.

Many people are ashamed of the gospel. And yet when the Apostle Paul built the church of God; when he did kingdom worked, this is what he said when he wrote to the Corinthians in First Corinthians chapter 2. And if you are a fan or a follower of John MacArthur, you would be very familiar with this verse. First Corinthians chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. And Paul said: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you (or to know nothing among you) except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”. And he has already mentioned this, that Jesus Christ and Him crucified (the gospel), it is foolishness to men. It is not something that people think very highly of.

Simply to preach the Word of God and you expect the kingdom of God to expand? We don’t. Many people don’t. We say we must say something more than just plain gospel. Jesus Christ and Him crucified, that and that only? Yes, that is what Jesus is saying here. That is the pattern of kingdom work like the mustard seed. What Jesus is saying is that God is able to use the smallest of seeds, the most unlikely individual to bring about an astounding harvest which we shall see one day. Now let me assure you that the kingdom of God is going to be massive. It’s going to be massive. Perhaps not today. Now one day, God is going to gather all His people together of every tongue and tribe, of every race, and God is going to show these are My people. It’s going to be massive.

But when we are doing kingdom work, now it doesn’t seem that way alright- it doesn’t seem that way. God is able to use the most unlikely individual. So that should bring comfort to us. Now we are the, if God were to build His kingdom, He probably wouldn’t use a person like me alright. I’m a nobody. You might not know this man called Johann Staupitz, but he was the one who led Martin Luther to Christ. Perhaps you’ve never heard of John Eaglen (Mistakenly mentioned “John”, supposedly “Robert”). He was the one who led Charles Spurgeon to Christ. You might probably not heard of Edward Kimball, but he was the means of the conversion of D.L. Moody. Now you see, God uses people that you probably have never heard of, but He used them in His kingdom.

So because perhaps you feel that you are nothing and that your contribution is unimportant, well this is what Jesus is saying. Don’t look at your smallness. Don’t look at the smallness or the insignificant instrument, but God uses this. So small beginning, that’s the pattern. The second thing about the pattern is slow progress. Slow progress. By using these two illustrations, these two pictures (the seed and the leaven or the yeast), what Jesus is saying is this, that the seed does not become a tree overnight. That is not how. We do not expect that. And so Jesus said you shouldn’t expect that kingdom work is going to accomplish overnight. Today we preach the gospel, tomorrow we have a big church. No, it doesn’t work like this. That’s not the pattern. The pattern is that it is going to be slow and gradual. Slow and gradual.

The gospel did not reach the ends of the earth in one day. It doesn’t work like that, and that’s not the pattern. It takes time, in other words, to plant a church. It takes time alright to win a soul. We don’t like that. We live in a culture, in a world that we don’t like things that takes time. We like everything instant. Instant mee alright. Quick, everything has to be quick. But there is no way alright of doing gospel work that way. We cannot rush. In fact, it was D.L. Moody who said this. Those of you who know D.L. Moody, he was in the sense the predecessor as far as mass evangelism is concerned, no Billy Graham alright. So he used to preach to thousands of people.

He’s a mass evangelist, and this is what he said. The way to reach the world, he said, is to reach them one by one. The way to reach the world is to reach them one by one. We cannot rush in kingdom work. So progress does not come alright. The seed does not become a tree overnight. And also, we see. We see that the progress is not very visible to the eye. Because it’s slow, it’s not very visible. Every day seems to be the same. Every day seems like there is no improvement or no growth. No progress. But that is the pattern of seed and the yeast. You look at the seed and you plant it. And tomorrow you come, it’s still seed. The following day you come, it’s still seed. I think it’s still seed. I’m not a biologist alright.

I think after many days it’s still seed, and you’re saying there’s no growth. No, no, no, no progress. No, you know that it’s also the same with child rearing you know. You got to bring up your children. You must understand the pattern of growth alright. And so do not discourage. Now those of you who have just got babies alright like Aaron and Abel coming soon alright. This is to encourage you don’t give up. When you see your baby day one, same size, day two, same size. After one week, then maybe May might ask Abel: What’s the problem with our baby? After one month still like basically the same. Well, don’t give up. Keep on feeding alright- keep on feeding. It will grow. Keep on doing alright the kingdom work. Don’t give up.

It might not seem to have progress, but that is the pattern of kingdom work. So it is small beginning, slow progress. But there’s a third thing about the pattern that Jesus wants to say here. And there would be a significant outcome. A significant outcome, that is to say, Jesus said it will mature. It will grow. The mustard seed will become a tree one day. The yeast or the leaven that you put in the dough will work. Just be patient, and then you’ll see that loaf of bread. And that is the pattern. It will have a significant outcome one day. Not immediately, but it will. Again you think of the missionaries. If they had false ideas about kingdom work, they would have been so discouraged.

Think about William Carey who went to India, after how many years before he had the first convert. And today, we see millions of Christians in India. If he had not been there to do that initial work, now this would not have happened. Think of Adoniram Judson who went to Burma. After six years, no fruit. On the seventh year, one fruit. Think of Hudson Taylor who went to China. Again after six years, no fruit. On the seventh year, then he begins to see people coming to Jesus Christ. Patience is needed. But today- but today, it is estimated that there are more Christians in China than in America. More Christians in China (in communist China) than in America. But these people, they didn’t have false ideas. They knew that that is what kingdom work is about- significant outcome.

Alright, so that is the pattern alright. That’s what these two parables are teaching. Jesus says that this is kingdom work. The expansion of the kingdom, He said, is like this: “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?”. The expansion of that work. See, this is the pattern. And secondly, He also uses this to teach us about the process of kingdom growth alright, of kingdom work and the process. Jesus is saying by using these two pictures that there is also a process that must take place. In other words, He says that we must also understand how it works. The process. Again there are three things here that we should see about the process. Look at verse 19. Verse 19 of Luke 13. Jesus said it is like a mustard seed.

Remember Jesus says: “To what shall I liken the kingdom of God?”. He said it’s like this. It’s like a mustard seed. Then He said: “which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches”. There is a process. The first thing in the process, Jesus says here, is implying here in verse 19 is taking the seed of God’s Word. He says that it’s like a mustard seed which the man took. The seed is the Word of God. He said it’s like man who takes this seed. So the first step in the process is to take the seed of the Word of God.

Do you have that seed? Do you have that seed of the Word of God in your hand? Have you taken hold of it? And what are you going to do with it, given the chance? Now, these are the questions. Do you have the seed? Have you taken hold of the seed? And what do you do with that seed? Now if someone were to ask you how to go to heaven, what must I do to inherit eternal life, do you have an answer? As a Christian, you want to do kingdom work, but do you have the seed? Do you have the knowledge of the Word of God? Could you tell them the answer? If someone asks you what Christian believes, can you tell people?

Or if someone were to ask you what is the Christian message to the world, what do you think is the answer? What is our message to the world? Be successful? Now, do you have the answer? Do you have the seed as it were? Could you explain the basic tenets of the Christian faith? You see, there are many Christians and probably have been Christians for years, but they have no basic knowledge of the Word of God. They do not have the seed. They have not gotten hold of the seed in their hand. A man, Jesus said, took it.

You see, we must have the seed in our hand. It is essential that a teacher knows what he is going to teach. It is essential that a teacher have the truth clearly in his mind. It may be a simple truth, but if a man takes that truth and understands it and loves it and grasps it and do something with it, now that is the process, the beginning of the process of kingdom work. So take the seed. Secondly, have a garden alright- have a garden. Again in verse 19, Jesus said it’s like a mustard seed which a man took and put it in his garden. And put it in his garden.

So notice here that the man has a garden. Or if you’re going to look at the other picture in verse 20, he must have the dough. You have the yeast, but where is the dough? You have the seed, but where is the garden? See, the problem with many Christians is that they don’t have a garden. They don’t have a personal sphere of ministry. They’re just by themselves. And maybe they have the seed. They’re very knowledgeable of the gospel. They know the Word of God. They know systematic theology. They can tell you about the doctrine of God, but they don’t have a garden. They don’t have a dough, a personal sphere of ministry. And so Jesus says that you must take the seed and you must have a garden. Where to find a garden, you ask. Where can I find a garden?

We have a problem these days you know where we live in a city where people buy a house. And thankfully, previously when you buy a house even though it is a terraced house and you’re buying an intermediate lot, you still have a garden. Now, you have a garden in front, but unfortunate thing is that we just buried the garden alright. We just cement all the gardens in our houses alright. And then we ended up we have no gardens. And so the developer got it. So these days, they build houses without gardens alright. Jesus says we must have a garden alright. If you have a seed, it’ll be of no use alright, ended up we all buy flower pots alright to put the seed in. So where do we find a garden?

Now, land is scarce. Land is scarce, but not spiritual land. Let me tell you when you come to spiritual garden, spiritual land, there is plentiful of garden. It’s just for us to open up our eyes and see. Just open up our eyes and see. And that’s what Jesus told the disciples. Lift up your eyes and see the harvest is wide. It’s ready for us to reap in the harvest. It’s plentiful. Jesus as He moves about, we are told in Matthew 9 and He sees the multitudes of people all over the places coming to Him. We are told that He saw them as sheep without shepherd and had compassion for them. And then He turned to His disciples and said pray. Pray that God might send forth labourers into the harvest field.

If only we have eyes to open and to see, we will see that there are plentiful of work out there; Garden, spiritual garden for us to tear to put our seed in. And every time when I go to the campuses. I’ve been involved in campus ministry for many years. When I was in JB, I go quite regularly to UTM, and just walk about in the campuses. I’ll walk into the room of these students, sat down with them and talk with them, preach the gospel to them. I’ve organised Bible study among the students. And for many years, I’ve been having Bible studies with them. When I came up, I have Bible studies with students in MCKL, in TAR College, in Monash, in INTI, in Sunway, in Taylor’s, in Xiamen.

Let me tell you this. It is an emotional thing every time I walk into these campuses when you see thousands and thousands of students everywhere, then I am often reminded of what Jesus said. The multitudes, they’re lost. They’re groping in the darkness. Who will be there to talk with them, to befriend them, to preach the gospel to them, to sit down and share the Word of God with them? Plentiful of you know, this spiritual land. There are thousands of students everywhere. And here we are in the midst of many campuses. Every time when you look out and you see people, what do you see? What do you see when you see people; when you see students; when you see people in the shopping mall; when you see people on the street? What do you see?

Sometimes we get irritated by people we see you know all the annoying people. Now that’s what people see. But they are people with eternal souls, people with souls, people who are dying not just physically but spiritually. Lift up your eyes and see. But not just the people outside. You talk about garden, it’s not just the people outside but the people inside the church. I see- I see young people in the church. I see newcomers in our midst. I see little children starting to appear in our church. These are gardens. Gardens. Parents must see that your most immediate garden is your own children. What do you do with them? Would you not plant a seed in these lives? Would you not want to see one day they’ll grow up to be Christian men and women, fine Christian men and women?

But that will not happen if you do not invest in their soul. It’s no use just to invest in their bodies, just to give them food, just to give them an education, just to give them good clothings and handphones and all kinds of things. No, we have to plant the seed. Take hold the seed. Have a garden and put it in the garden. Perhaps we can think of many, many other people who might be your garden. And these are beautiful gardens. When you look at Ezra and Eden, don’t you say that these are beautiful gardens? You love them, but do you want to see something happen in their lives? Do you have seed? Where are you going to plant them? Now that is, those are the questions.

And thirdly, plant it alright. Plant it. What good is it to have seeds in your hand, you have the gospel truth, you have learned your theology, you study your Bible and you have a garden. But what good it is to have theology, you have the gospel and have a garden but you do not cast the seed into the garden? You seed it, but you do nothing. What can you expect? What can you expect when you have seed and you have garden. but you don’t put the seed into the garden? What can you expect? A revival? We can’t alright- we can’t expect revival or spiritual blessings to come automatically.

I say look again at the people around us. The people in the church, what will become of them? What will become of our children one day? It depends alright what we do with them. And so Jesus says here the truth of God. The Word of God in a sense is useless if not taken by the Christians and cuts into the hearts of men. That is what these parables are teaching us. The urgency of the gospel ministry tells us this pattern, it tells us the process of growth. This work is hard work. This work is slow work. This work is often unnoticed, but this is what the kingdom of God is like. Let us pray.

“Our dear Father in heaven, we pray again that You will help us to have the sense of urgency, to see that You have given to us an important task, the Great Commission to go out and make disciples of all the nations and to baptise them and to teach them all that Jesus has commanded us. And yet Lord, we know that this is going to be a hard work, slow work, and often unnoticed.

But Lord, we pray that You’ll grant to our heart both the burden for this work as well as the joy- the joy of being involved in the work of the kingdom, the joy of seeing how You work in lives, the joy of seeing people being changed though in a slow and progressive manner, gradual manner. But Lord, we know that there is great joy when we see even one soul coming to faith in Jesus Christ. And so we pray that You’ll help us in this work, for we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.