Keith Battle - Growing Gains

I have two verses that I’m going to try to unpack, allowing God to speak life into our lives before we head out. Matthew chapter 13, beginning at verse 31. I’m going to read verses 31 and 32. This is the New International Version, and it says, «He told them another parable: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.» I want to use as a subject today—I’m sorry—"Growing Gains.» Growing gains. I prefer that to «growing pains.» I say «growing gains» instead of «growing pains» because, while growth can be painful—and you do know that growth is painful—you cannot grow without encountering some hurt. Growth is painful, but the reason I’m calling it «growing gains» is because the part of growth we often overlook and fail to focus on is the progress that comes with the pain. Growth doesn’t just involve pain; it also includes gains. There are benefits that come with growth, and that’s why I call it «growing gains.»

Now, this parable of Jesus is one of several in this thirteenth chapter of Matthew that speaks about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus uses several metaphors in this chapter to explain what the kingdom of heaven is like. If you have questions about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, Jesus starts giving these parables, saying that the kingdom of heaven is like this, it’s like a mustard seed—it’s like this. When He uses this particular example in this passage, He says that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that a man put in the ground, and after a process, it grew into a large plant and became a tree. So, He’s saying the kingdom of heaven is like that: once obscure and easily overlooked, it was just a mustard seed.

Now, I was going to get something today; you probably can’t see it on camera, but this is a mustard seed. He says, «This is what the kingdom of heaven is like—easily overlooked and obscure.» But then, after going through an intentional process, it becomes a tree. So, they’re putting on the screen now a picture of magnified mustard seeds, and ultimately, if you have the mustard seed tree, it grows into a tree. Not that one; the one that’s an actual mustard tree right there—that’s the process. He says the kingdom is like that; the kingdom of heaven is like that.

Now, it is very easy to stay in the mystical in this passage and view the text solely through the lens of the mystical, esoteric kingdom of heaven or the ecclesiastical view of the universal church, but if you only look at this text through the lens of the kingdom without considering a personal standpoint, then you miss some of the benefits and practical applications for our lives. For example, in this thirteenth chapter, the Bible does not just describe the kingdom of heaven as some esoteric, mystical place we will one day go; it says in verse 38 that the good seeds represent the sons or daughters of the kingdom. The Bible frequently refers to us as sons and daughters of the kingdom.

In Matthew chapter 19, verse 14, Jesus is in an environment where children are being brought to Him, and His disciples are trying to stop the children from approaching Him. Jesus rebuked the disciples and said, «Suffer the little children to come to me, for such is the kingdom.» This illustrates a kingly relationship. In fact, in Luke chapter 17, Jesus was responding to some people’s questions about when the kingdom would come. He explained that the kingdom will not be discovered through careful observation, and that no one will say, «Here it is» or «There it is,» because the kingdom is within you. So, there is a personal nature to the kingdom.

Just as the kingdom of heaven undergoes this metamorphic process of transitioning from obscurity as a seed to a prosperous or productive notoriety as a tree, each and every one of us goes through a similar process. In fact, you can view this not just as your personal process of evolution, but also as many people I’m preaching to today who have a seed that you’ve sown by faith. You may not know what’s happening with that seed because it hasn’t reached where you want it to be. Let me put it like this: your seed is your vision. When you plant a seed, you don’t plant it just to become…