Bible Study Mustard seed

[irishrain]

Matt 13:31 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:

field is the world Matt 13:38
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.

Luke 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

Our GOD sent HIS seed into this world in the womb of Mary.
And, from this tiny seed came forth the greatest 'tree', 'The Tree of Life', JESUS CHRIST.

Isa 7:14
14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Matt 1:23
23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

Luke 1:31-35
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Jer 23:5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

The mustard seed has also been used concerning faith.

Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
If a condition
But, what is this 'faith' of which HIS disciples asked?

4102 pistis (pis'-tis);
from 3982; persuasion, i.e. credence; moral conviction (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly, constancy in such profession; by extension, the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself:
KJV-- assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity.
3982 peitho (pi'-tho);
a primary verb; to convince (by argument, true or false); by analogy, to pacify or conciliate (by other fair means);
reflexively or passively, to assent (to evidence or authority), to rely (by inward certainty):
KJV-- agree, assure, believe, have confidence, be (wax) conflent, make friend, obey, persuade, trust, yield.

Your faith, likened unto a mustard seed, when it is planted, should grow.
Has your faith sprouted? Have you set your roots deep within our GOD's Word?
Only HIS Truth can feed you, whereby you may become a mighty and capable servant unto our LORD.

Matt 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
If is always a condition
mountain is symbolic of the New Word Order/Gov/ political system

 

[James1979]

Mountain is symbolies as where God dwells, his kingdom.

Isa 56:7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices [shall be] accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Isa 57:13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take [them]: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;

Dan 9:20 And whiles I [was] speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;

Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

Luk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

Rev 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,




Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.

 

[irishrain]

Mountain is symbolies as where God dwells, his kingdom.

Right, but what is His kingdom? A king and His dominion or His Government.

 

[Terral]

The Mustard Seed Teaching Is About Those With NO Faith

Hi Irishrain:

Irishrain >> Your faith, likened unto a mustard seed, when it is planted, should grow. Has your faith sprouted? Have you set your roots deep within our GOD's Word? Only HIS Truth can feed you, whereby you may become a mighty and capable servant unto our LORD.

My take on Christ’s ‘mustard seed’ teaching is much different from yours. Christ never envisioned mountains and trees flying around too and fro, but He used these examples to show the ‘lack of faith’ in His Disciples. Christ is saying that even if they had the faith of the smallest seed of all, then they could do such great things. However, the fact of the matter was that all of them combined had no faith, because that saving component was still “IN†Christ Himself to be milled out for us at Calvary. Christ told the Twelve on many occasions that He would be delivered up and killed AND the He would be raised on the ‘third day’ (Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:23, Matthew 20:19). How many of even His Elect were standing outside the tomb on the third day ready to receive our Risen Lord in faithfulness? ZERO. You might want to argue that the women there represent a faithful few, but that also would be incorrect; because of the testimony carried in their own hands.

“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.†Mark 16:1.

Why do these women bear spices to anoint the body of the living? Answer: Because they also had ‘no faith.’ Christ appeared to them and send them to tell Peter and the others that “He has risen!†What is the response of His Elect?

“She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.†Mark 16:10-11.

Christ appeared to two of His Disciples and sent them to tell the others, but what is their response?

“After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either.†Mark 16:12-13.

Anyone trying to say that the Twelve ‘preached’ Paul’s “word of the cross†(1 Corinthians 1:18) gospel message (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) in the Four Gospels has no case at all, because NONE of Christ’s Elect believed it themselves. What was Christ’s response to the unbelief of His chosen ones?

"Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen." Mark 16:14.

Note that Christ was not reproaching them for their failure to appear at the tomb on the third day. He was reproving them for their hardness of heart, because they had not believed the women or even two of the Twelve themselves. Their faith was not even comparable to the spec of a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds, because they had no faith at all. The faith we receive by ‘hearing’ (Romans 10:17) the gospel itself is the ‘faith of Jesus’ (Romans 3:26) that God milled out for us through the death, burial and resurrection of His Only Begotten Son. The Twelve were still living in the time ‘before faith came’ from Paul’s words here, saying,

“But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.†Galatians 3:23-27./quote]

Paul would rebuke Peter concerning the ‘truth of the gospel’ (Galatians 2:14) some twenty years later, because Peter never grasped the true understanding of the “wisdom given him†(2 Peter 3:14-16).

In Christ Jesus,

Terral