Seeds, Birds, and the Kingdom

Three portions of Scripture came to my mind. First, we are going to read from Luke 17.

Luke 17:20 And when He (Jesus) was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation…

The Pharisees wanted to know when the Kingdom of God was coming. Jesus said, “You won’t know about it, because you won’t be able to observe it,” which means it is going to be a spiritual kingdom that comes spiritually to the ones who are spiritual.

Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The Kingdom of God will not be observed in the natural realm, so it can’t be said, “Lo, it’s here,” or “Lo, it’s over there,” because it doesn’t come that way. But the Kingdom of God is within you.

Now, let’s go to Matthew 13. We are still talking about the Kingdom. Another parable, and since it is a parable that means it is mystical and it has a mystical understanding.

Matthew 13:31-32 Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field…
32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

Now remember, Jesus said that the Kingdom comes within you. Here He says it is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field. That seed of the Kingdom is sown within us, and as the Kingdom grows in verse 32 it says that the grain of mustard seed is the least of all seeds. We usually think of that as being the very smallest in size, but I think maybe it’s the least as far as being valued among men because there are not many who give themselves to that seed that is within them. There are many seeds within us, and that seed of the Kingdom that comes forth within us is the least of all the seeds.

We’ve had messages on this before where we talked about how that within us are many kingdoms, many things that are looked upon with great value, things that we have. Do you remember the young rich ruler? He came to Jesus and said “I have kept all the commandments. What do I lack?” Jesus answered, “You take what you have and give it to the poor, and you come follow Me. Then you shall be perfect and have life.” Well, he wasn’t willing to do that. He had too many things that were of more value than that little seed of the Kingdom. So, he walked away from that.

It is the least of all seeds. I was reading in Micah yesterday where he is prophesying about the birth of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. This verse is the one that was referred to when Herod was approached by the Maji about where the King of the Jews would be born.

Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

Little Bethlehem was of the least. If you go to the Book of Joshua, where it lists all the towns and villages of Judah, Bethlehem is left out. It wasn’t even considered enough to be listed among the others, but it was that little place where David was born and it was that little place where the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ, would come forth.

So, that is what is being talked about in Matthew 13:31-32, that grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. At some point, the man, Christ, has sowed a seed of the Kingdom within us and that seed is considered least, not just small in size, but the least valued. If you consider the whole population of our country today, you will understand exactly what that means. It is considered least of all. Even among Christians it’s not considered to be such a great thing.

We were talking earlier about the things spoken of the founders of this country, how they gave their lives. Some of them were very rich men, but there was a loyalty, a sense of value that was coming to their hearts and they laid everything on the line. Most of them lost their fortunes; some of them lost their families because they gave themselves to that one thing. To others, it was the least. Today – what do people think about it today? It’s least in their eyes. It is of no value.

Matthew 13: 32 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.

This seed of the Kingdom begins to grow and it becomes, in a sense, an herb. It continues to grow until it becomes a large tree. But what happens then? The birds of the air come and nest in it; they lodge in the branches thereof. But we know that many birds represent evil things. Some birds, like a dove for example, represent a divine nature. Moses talks about the clean and the unclean among the birds, so we can’t just say all these birds were wicked birds and we can’t say they are all good birds, but there is a mixture. As the Kingdom comes forth within us, there are all the good things we inherit from the Lord that begin to lodge within this kingdom within us. There are also a lot of birds of our flesh nature that begin to lodge in it also and there is a mixture. Every one of the parables in Matthew 13 speaks of a mixture and that mixture is within us.

Now, let’s go to Matthew chapter 10. In this chapter, the Lord sends out His disciples on their first missionary journey. You remember that in Matthew 4:17, when Jesus began His ministry, He came forth ministering and saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” The seed of the Kingdom is being planted among people. That same thing was spoken of by John the Baptist prior to that when he said, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Then in Matthew 10, Jesus calls His disciples together and He gives them authority.

Matthew 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Kingdom seeds are being planted. In some people, that seed is sprouting into an herb and then a tree. The next thing you know, you say, “Oh glory, the Kingdom is really coming forth with more than just a sprout within me!” Yes, and you find all kinds of things lodging in it, bad and good things.

Matthew 10:7-8 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

The very next thing that takes place after the Kingdom comes within you and is planted as a seed, and as it begins to grow, then you find all kind of things good and bad lodging in the branches of that Kingdom within you and then the Lord sends forth those with authority and says, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. In other words, begin to cast out the birds that are bad.

As I was thinking on this scripture one day, it suddenly hit me that Jesus said to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, those who are His people. That means He is sending this kind of ministry to the Church. There is no such thing as a healthy person. No one is healthy, because health has to do with more than your physical body. Health is also your mind. Mentally, are you healthy? Physically, are you healthy? Emotionally, are you healthy? Spiritually, are you healthy? Jesus tells them, “You go out and heal the sick.” If you go into some churches today and say, “We’ve come to heal the sick,” they may answer, “There are no sick people in here today. Sorry.”

“Well, we’ve come to cast out devils.”

“Surely no one in here has devils in them.”

“We’ll raise the dead.”

“No dead people in here.”

But it is just the opposite. Those whose spirits have not come alive unto God are dead. Those who are not healthy need to be healed of diseases of all kinds. Many of them are just spiritual diseases. The Lord will cause things to happen to make you become aware of the birds in your life that represent things that need to be driven out as in Revelation 6:2: And I saw, and behold a white horse: and He that sat on him … went forth conquering, and to conquer. The Lord comes forth within us to conquer, to take to task the things within us. It may not be fun.

“Well, I know my body is okay and I feel okay, but I’m not healthy. My attitude is not good. It’s not healthy. My spirit – I realize that too often I don’t believe what I should believe. There’s doubt.”

Not healthy as we should be. The Kingdom comes forth within us as just a little seed, the smallest and the least of all seeds and it grows. As it grows, a lot of things tend to glob onto it, so the healing of the sick becomes important.

Cleanse the lepers. Do you have any idea how many lepers might be in you?

Raise the dead. How many dead people in you? Well, how many parts of your spirit haven’t come alive to God yet?

Cast out devils. “Do you think there are devils in me?” Is there any doubt? Human nature is demonic. It is the anti-Christ. It is the 666.

Knowing this, what am I going to do? Do we just say, “Well, I’m okay. I’m healthy.” No, I’m not. The Kingdom is coming forth within me. That least of all seeds has been planted and it has been growing. “When I didn’t walk with God, I didn’t have all those problems!” It is only when the Kingdom begins to grow in you, like becoming a big tree, that’s when the problems come up. That is when all kinds of things want to nest in the branches. But God has a ministry: Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. Run all those birds out of that tree that aren’t supposed to be there. Amen.