Adrian Rogers was a motivator, an encourager and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances. And you'll hear that in today's message.
Now, let's join Adrian Rogers. In Matthew chapter 13, we have seven parables. And these are the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
Our Lord calls them mysteries. And he gives us one, two, three, four, five, six, seven parables that span history from the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ until the final judgment. And these seven parables help us to understand what the course of this age will be like, what to expect so we will not be taken by surprise, we'll not be disappointed or have doubt come to us because things may not be as rosy as we think that they ought to be. Remember what a parable is? A parable is an earthly story that has an heavenly meaning. Now, first of all, we talked about the parable of the sower and the mystery of the sower. And what did that parable teach us? Well, it taught us, among other things, that not everybody that hears the gospel is going to get saved.
You don't get the idea in your head that all we need to do is just tell people how to be saved and they will be saved. The sower may be fine and the seed may be fine, but it also depends upon the soil, doesn't it? And some seed will not fall on good ground, but some will. And we learn, and I know, praise God, that when I preach and when you share, people are going to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then we studied next the parable of the tares.
The tares are weeds and wheat sewn together. And what does that tell us? Well, the parable of the tares tell us that we can expect hypocrites in Christendom in the church and out of the church, there will be hypocrites. And so don't be surprised when a hypocrite comes along and don't let some hypocrite keep you from giving your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, tonight, we come to the story of the mustard seed. We read now in verses 31 and 32. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds.
But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. The title of the message, The Strange Mystery of the Mustard Seed and the Devil's Dirty Birds. You're going to learn from this why there are false cults in the world. You see, not only do you have those who reject the gospel, not only do you have those who imitate the gospel, but you have those who actually pervert the gospel, and we're going to learn that in the parable of the mustard seed. False cults did not take our Lord by surprise, and they ought not to take you by surprise, because this world is full of false cults and apostate Christians, and there are many who trudge to church Sunday after Sunday whose lives are not changed, and on top of that, they are twice-fold a child of hell, because they are in false religion.
Now, this false religion may be dead and decadent, or it may be set on fire, wildfire, and zeal from hell, but it is not Bible-based, it is not Christ-honoring, it is not Spirit-filled. Now, how did all of this develop? What has happened? Our Lord looked down through the corridor of time, and he told us some things. This is the mystery of the mustard seed. Now, the devil has many ways to sabotage God's work. In the parable of the sower, you remember, the devil catches away the seed that was sown. In the parable of the tares, he imitates the good seed, but in the parable of the mustard seed, he perverts and corrupts it, and you have to understand that all of these things can happen. Now, when we look at this parable of the mustard seed, we're going to look at it under four headings, all right? First of all, the sower, then the seed, then the shrub, and then the shade tree.
First of all, who is this sower? Well, look again in verse 31, the Bible says, another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. Well, who is the man that does this sowing in these parables? Well, go down to verse 37, And he answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man. Again, we have the Lord Jesus beginning something, starting something.
He's out there planting a field. The sower is the Son of man, Jesus. And I'm glad for that because, you see, there will be a church. Jesus said, I will build my church. And Philippians 1, verse 6 says, He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it. There will be a godly crop. God has promised, and we can bank on that, that he cannot fail.
He must prevail. The sacred sower is Jesus. Now, secondly, not only are we going to look at the sacred sower, but we're going to look at the small seed. Now, look in verse 31 again of this same chapter. The Bible says, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds.
This seed is very, very small, like a fleck of pepper that you saw in the eggs this morning. So, I want us to think about that. Why did Jesus say that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed? Well, first of all, obviously, the emphasis is on the size because He's talking here about smallness. You know, we are a little flock. We are the master's minority.
We're the faithful few. Don't get the idea that the gospel is something large and has a lot of fanfare and so forth. In reality, it is quite small in its simplicity, and it's not so high and lofty that few can get up to it. It's so small that few get down to it, and Jesus is talking about something here very small. I remember hearing a story long ago about a great theologian who was in a seminary, and he had been lecturing the students, and this man was incredibly brilliant. And they had a Q&A, and they were asking him all of these deep, convoluted questions about theology. And then one student said to him, sir, what is the greatest thought that you've ever had, the greatest theological truth that you know? And this man paused for a while and thought, and then he said, the greatest thought, the greatest truth that I know is this. Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Oh, that's it.
That is it. The smallness, the simplicity of the seed, but oh, think of a mustard seed now, not only the smallness of it, but the strength of it. Jesus said, faith like a grain of mustard seed can remove mountains. Again, he's talking about strength in a mustard seed. You see, a mustard seed is fiery. It's pungent. Do you know what mustard is?
We had some in a Chinese restaurant the other day, and I put some on an egg roll. It almost blew the top of my head off. Now you folks, if you've got sinuses that'll take care, I mean, it'll clear it out. How many of you when you were a child, your mama used to put a mustard plaster on your, mustard plaster, you'd get something, and she would put a mustard plaster on your chest up here supposed to take care of a cold?
It didn't do a thing for the cold, but near about turned your skin, fire engine red, as she put that mustard plaster on there. As a matter of fact, there's a story about Darius, the Great, as he invaded Europe. He came into Europe, and Alexander the Great went to meet Darius of the Persians, and Darius sent Alexander the Great a bag of sesame seeds, and there were just thousands and thousands of sesame seeds, and he sent them by courier to Alexander the Great, and he was saying that we're going to cover the land like these sesame seeds.
There's so many of us, you'll never defeat us. And the Great sent him back a bag of mustard seeds, and he said, you are going to meet fire and power and strength like you've never known before. You see, the mustard seed speaks, yes, of smallness, insignificance in many ways, but it speaks of strength. But think not only of the smallness of this seed and the strength of this seed, but think, friend, of the secret of it.
Here's the secret. You see, the kingdom of heaven is like a seed, and a seed has life. Remember, in all of these things, our Lord is frequently mentioning seed, and he's saying that the Word of God is like a seed, and we who are his saints, the good seed, are the believers that are sown in the world. And again, he's using the word of a seed.
Why? Because a seed has that germ of life in it, and it can reproduce. Somebody said, and I love this, any fool can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed.
Isn't that a beautiful thought? Only God can count the apples in a seed. I mean, because a seed can reproduce and reproduce and reproduce and reproduce, and so you see the sacred sower, and then you see the small seed.
Now, here's a third thing you see. You see a significant shrub. This seed begins to grow, and it becomes a shrub. Look, if you will, in verse 32, which indeed is the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs. And so an herb is a bush that does not have a woody stem, but it has a pulpy stem, enough to support leaves and flowers and seeds. Not a great lofty thing like a tree, but it is a significant shrub, and that represents what the gospel is supposed to be. It may not seem like much compared to a great cedar of Lebanon. It may not seem like much compared to a mighty oak, but it is a shrub that can reproduce and bear whatever fruit that it is to bear, whatever flowers, whatever seeds, and not known for its prominence, not known for its loftiness. It speaks of lowliness and not prominence.
Now, let's move on, and we're gonna tighten the focus a little bit. You see the sacred sower. That's Jesus. You see the small seed. That is the pungent gospel that we preach. You see the significant shrub that comes up. That is what the gospel is supposed to do, but now watch, watch. The fourth thing, and we're gonna slow down here, is a strange shade tree, a strange shade. Look in verse 32.
Don't miss this now. And it becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Now, folks, shrubs don't become trees.
Not in the natural world they do not. What our Lord is talking about here is something that is monstrous, something that is unnatural, something that should not have developed, a strange development. Herbs don't become trees. Put Genesis 1 verses 11 and 12 in your margin if you don't mind writing your Bible. Let's see how God created the world. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth, and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind.
And God saw that it was good. Now, God says there's an herb that yields fruit after its kind. There's a tree that yields fruit after its kind, but the herb does not produce a tree. You'd never get an herb from a tree in the natural world.
Stems of herbs never develop woody tissue. What our Lord is talking about here is something that is abnormal. Now, don't try to read something normal into this. What our Lord is talking about is strange developments, mysteries in the kingdom. For example, it is not normal to have tares among wheat. A farmer does not expect that.
You would not expect an herb to become a tree. Our Lord here is talking about a strange development. Now, people who don't think straightly about these seven mysteries get all confused, and what they say is, Isn't that wonderful?
Look there. The gospel starts from a little seed, and then it becomes a shrub, and that shrub becomes a great big old tree, and all the sweet little songbirds come and twitter in the branches of the gospel tree. That's not what it's talking about. That's 180 degrees from what he's talking about.
Friend, these are not sweet little birds that are in the trees in the limbs of this tree. Now, Jesus did not explain this parable. Did you notice that? He explained the parable of the sower. He explained the parable of the tares, but he didn't explain this parable.
He expected the people to have enough understanding of the Old Testament to understand what this parable was about. Put in your margin Daniel chapter 4 and beginning in verses 20 through 22, Daniel is telling Nebuchadnezzar what his kingdom was like. Now, Nebuchadnezzar was the king in Babylon. Babylon is the root of all false religion from that time to this, and Daniel says of Nebuchadnezzar and his kingdom, listen to this, Nebuchadnezzar had a dream he saw a tree, and Daniel says, The tree that thou sawest, which grew and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair, the fruit thereof much, and in it was food or meat for all. Watch this, and under which the beast of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches, look at this now, the fowls of the heaven had their habitation. It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong, for thy greatness is grown and reacheth unto heaven and thy dominion to the end of the earth. Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, is a type of antichrist. This monstrous tree is typical of the final form of apostate Christianity in the last days. The rise of false cults and liberal churches that deny the Bible are typified by this tree. They have not taken the Lord by surprise.
It is abnormal, but it is not unexpected. You say, well, how do you know that these are not just sweet little birds? Well, look, if you will, in verse 32. The birds of the air come and lodge in the branches. Well, who are these birds? Well, these birds are the ones that, in this same parable, come and steal away the seed. Look in verses 3 and 4, chapter 13, verses 3 and 4. And he spake many things unto them in parable, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Now, remember that Daniel said the fowls were lurking in old Nebuchadnezzar's tree, the Babylonian tree. Go down now to verse 19 of this same chapter. When anyone heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. The birds represent the devil, the wicked one. They don't represent sweet little songbirds. These are the devil's dirty birds, and they are lurking in the branches of apostate Christianity.
It's so very clear. Let me give you another scripture here that I think will clear this up almost completely. In Revelation, chapter 18, and verse 2, And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and watch it, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Unclean and hateful birds in Babylon. Babylon stands for false religion. God said that Babylon is like a tree, and the fowls are going to lurk in the branches, and that is the shade of this tree. These are the devil's dirty birds that are in the shade of this apostate Christianity. Satan is not against religion.
He uses religion to accomplish his purpose. In these parables, the birds stand for that which steal away the seed. They stand for that which is apostate, and that which is wrong. Babylon is like a tree.
Shrubs don't become trees. This is an absurd development, and what God is saying is that Babylon is for the birds, dirty birds that lurk in the branches of apostate Christianity. You've got the yellow-bellied compromiser and the liberal loon and the cultic crow and the blasphemous buzzard. They're all in the branches of this tree, and this false religion has the power of Satan behind it.
Listen again. Babylon the Great has fallen, has fallen and become the habitation of devils and a hole of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. Now, what we need is a course in bird watching so that you can spot these dirty birds. The Bible says that they will be in the last days. Now, let me tell you, they're not easily spotted because the devil is a master of deception and a master of camouflage. And our Lord said, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Now, if the devil will wear wool, he'll also wear feathers. So, you need to understand.
Let me tell you what these dirty birds may do. They may use the Bible. They frequently do. Here's a scripture, 2 Peter 3, verse 16. The Bible says that they which are unlearned and unstable rest the scriptures. That is, they turn the scriptures as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction.
So, just because a man says, I believe the Bible doesn't mean he's not an apostate. They may perform miracles. Matthew 24, verse 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect. They may appear to do good works. Matthew 7, verses 22 and 23. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, depart from me ye that work iniquity.
I never knew you. They may have Sunday schools. They may have church services, radio programs, revival services, Bible conferences, magazines, books, tracts, miracle working power, mission societies, youth activities. Counterfeits often look like the genuine. How, therefore, are you going to find out whether or not that these who are lurking in the branches of apostate Christianity, this monstrous tree, this herb that has become a tree, how are you going to find out whether they are genuine or whether they are one of the devil's dirty birds? I want to give you some tests.
Let's let them start with the letter S, each one. First of all, the source test. When a person approaches you about some kind of faith or some kind of religion, you ask that person this question. Is the Bible God's holy word, the revelation that God gave through his word, is that the source of your information or do you get it from someplace else? Revelation 22, verses 18 and 19, for I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.
If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book, and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. Now, folks, I want to tell you, if they don't come from a Bible-based ministry, you know they're a false cult, but that's not enough because some will say, yes, we believe the Bible is the word of God. So the second test, not only the source test, but the Savior test, find out what they believe about Jesus Christ. Ask, do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God and God the Son, co-equal and co-eternal with Almighty God? I frequently ask this question, do you worship Jesus? They say, oh, we venerate Jesus.
I say, no. Do you worship Jesus? Because in the Bible, it is obvious that he is worshiped. Now, if they worship him and he's not God, they're committing idolatry. If they don't worship him, they're not practicing Biblical faith.
You see, ask them what they believe about the Lord Jesus Christ, and don't just think this is incidental. 2 John chapter 1, verses 9 and 10. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If any come unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed. Now, that doesn't mean you can't bring him in your house to witness to him. To receive means to welcome him as a brother in Christ, as it would mean the counterpart to give him God speed and say, God bless you.
We're all headed to the same place. You don't believe in the full deity of Christ. You don't believe that Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God and God the Son, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father, but God bless you.
Oh, no. You, friend, have the source test, and then you have the Savior test, and then you have the subject test. Find out is your primary task, including the gospel of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1, verses 8 and 9, Paul said, But though we are an angel from heaven, preach ye any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. So, there is the source test, the Savior test, and the subject test. Is the subject the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? Next, the salvation test.
We're talking about spiritual bird watching right now. Does that individual, does that group of people, do they believe in salvation by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and his atoning work on Calvary as the only basis for the forgiveness of sins? Now, it's not the blood of Jesus plus anything. It is not faith plus works. It is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the finished atoning work of Calvary. Salvation is trusting the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Savior receiving the gift of God.
Not any achievement. Ask this individual, are you depending upon any achievement of your own for your salvation, or are you trusting exclusively in the grace of God? The salvation test.
The last test is the sanctification test. Is this individual living a righteous and a holy life? Do they teach purity? Do they teach holiness without which no man shall see the Lord? Do you preach and teach and live in accordance with the standard of holiness? Now, if a person can pass these tests in my estimation, you can say, I have a brother, a sister in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, let's just wrap it all up. The sacred sower is the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus. And I can tell you, friend, the one who plants the good seed is going to reap the harvest. You can be sure there will be a harvest. You can be sure that the Lord is going to build his church. And then the seed, the small seed, is the truth of God's Word. It may be small, but it is strong, and it has a secret.
It pulsates with life, and it will reproduce and reproduce and reproduce and reproduce. The shrub represents not a great lofty tree, but the true church of the Lord Jesus Christ that can reproduce over and over again. It does not put its roots down deep because this world is not our home.
We're just passing through. The tree, the tree represents apostate Christianity. Daniel 4 teaches us that. Revelation 18 teaches us that.
The very parable itself teaches us that these dirty birds that have been stealing away the seed come and find haven and rest in the branches of this tree. Now, what does that mean to us? What does that mean to you personally?
Number one, it means a word of warning. Don't get carried away by some false cult, some apostate Christianity. I'm amazed at how many people who were once in Bible-believing churches are drawn aside because they do not have the ability to be a spiritual birdwatcher. They don't understand when our Lord said over and over again, beware false prophets. It's also a word of comfort. Friend, we don't have anything to fear from the cults. We don't have anything to fear from apostate Christianity as such. Truth is stronger than error. Greater is he that's in us than he that is in the world.
But now listen to me. We have everything to fear from our own missionary apathy, our lethargy, and ignorance of spiritual truth. That's what we need to fear. Every now and then somebody will come and say, oh, such and such a cult or such and such a thing is building a church or a center or a temple or a mosque in our neighborhood.
Oh, oh, oh. They haven't evangelized, they haven't taught, they haven't witnessed. We don't have anything to fear from them. What we must fear is our own lethargy and apathy and failure to preach the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Friend, we ought to be like Alexander the Great and say we've got a bag full of seed and Satan, you're the one that ought to be afraid.
Now, it's obvious. It's obvious in these parables that you can hear the Word of God in your heart and not open and receive the good seed. It is obvious in these parables that you can be like weeds among wheat. You could be one of Satan's tears rather than God's shaft of golden wheat.
It's obvious that there are those who seem to imitate Christianity and are in false cults but are not truly in the kingdom of God. Would you like to be saved? Now, I'm not asking, are you religious?
The devil's religious. The Bible says examine yourself whether you be in the faith. If you were to stand before God right now and he would ask you, why should I let you into my heaven?
What would you say? Why don't you get it settled right now? Why don't you pray this prayer after me and ask Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? Would you like to be saved? Friend, please pray this prayer right now.
Don't let the devil, don't let the devil's dirty bird steal away the seed. Right now, pray this prayer. Dear God, I know that you love me and I know that you want to save me. Thank you, Lord, for letting me be here to hear this message. I am a sinner. My sin deserves judgment, but I need mercy. I want to be saved. I want to be forgiven.
I want to be cleansed. Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. I believe you paid for my sin with your blood on the cross.
I believe God raised you from the dead. I now receive you and trust you as my Lord and Savior. Come into my heart. Forgive my sin.
Cleanse me. Save me, Lord Jesus. I receive it by faith like a little child. You're now my Lord and my Savior and my God and my friend. And from this moment on, by your strength and for your glory, I will follow you. I will love you. I will serve you. You are my Master, my Lord, my Savior, and my God. And I will not be ashamed of you because you died for me. In your name I pray. Amen. If you would like to learn more about how you can know Jesus through your relationship with him, simply click the Discover Jesus link on our website, lwf.org. For a copy of this message or additional resources, visit our online store at lwf.org or call 1-800-274-5683. .
