Part 3 - The Parables Of The Kingdom: The Mustard Seed

THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 1 ✦ ✦ ✦ A New Teaching Series THE PARABLES AND THE LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL Proving the Singular Mission of YAHSHUA Through Every Parable He Taught ✦ ✦ ✦ PART THREE THE MUSTARD SEED THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 2 The Impossible Growth of the Kingdom Government From One Man to a Multitude of Nations Matthew 13:31–32 Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 3 THE TEXT BEFORE US Matthew 13:31–32 “The kingdom of heaven is like to 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.” This little parable — only two verses long — contains one of the most staggering claims in the entire ministry of YAHSHUA. It is a parable about the seemingly impossible growth of the Kingdom — from the smallest beginning on earth to a worldwide scope that fills every continent. And sadly, this is the part of the Kingdom no one teaches. Almost no preacher in modern Christianity will stand up and explain the scope of the new world government coming to earth. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 4 They will preach about heaven. They will preach about the rapture. They will preach about a personal relationship. But they will not preach the size, the shape, and the spread of the actual government YAHWEH is building on this planet. That ends tonight. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 5 I. THE STARTER BREAD OF THE UNIVERSE The Most Misunderstood Truth in the Bible Is This — YAHWEH always begins something massive with something microscopic. He always builds outward from a single chosen point. Watch the pattern in your Bible: • Long ago — ONE MAN was chosen as the basis of universal salvation. Abraham. • Then — ONE FAMILY was chosen. The seed of Isaac. • Then — ONE PEOPLE was chosen. The twelve sons of Jacob. • Then — ONE NATION was chosen. Israel — the nucleus of a galaxy-wide government. That is the starter bread of the entire Kingdom. One man. One family. One people. One nation. And out of that single small lump — leaven for the whole earth. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 6 Genesis 22:18 “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” That is not a salvation promise about a private heart experience. That is a sworn covenant about a coming worldwide government — sourced from one chosen seed. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 7 II. WHY THE WORLD CANNOT FATHOM IT Here Is the Stumbling Block. People — religious and secular alike — cannot fathom that YAH's mighty Kingdom will come from a certain people called Israel. It is too small. It is too imperfect. It is too obscure. It is too particular. The modern mind wants a Kingdom that comes from everyone, for everyone, through no one in particular. But YAHWEH has never operated that way. He always works through the chosen seed. AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHY IT LOOKS LIKE A MUSTARD SEED. If you didn't know what a mustard seed was — if you didn't know its potential — you would walk past it without a second THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 8 glance. It is laughably small. It is unimpressive. It looks like a speck of dirt. But the One who planted it knew exactly what was inside it. And He alone knew that this speck would become the largest tree in the garden. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 9 III. THE TREE HAS ALREADY GROWN Now Listen — and Listen Carefully — Because Here Is What No One Will Tell You. The Mustard Tree is not a future event. The Mustard Tree has already grown to a great level on earth — and most Christians have walked under its branches their entire lives without ever recognizing what it was. Look at the Prophecy Spoken Over Ephraim. Genesis 48:19 “He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and HIS SEED SHALL BECOME A MULTITUDE OF NATIONS.” That is Jacob — Israel — speaking by the Spirit over Ephraim. The promise was clear: Manasseh would become one great people; Ephraim would become a multitude of nations. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 10 And Look at the Promise Repeated to Jacob Himself. Genesis 28:14 “And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt SPREAD ABROAD TO THE WEST, AND TO THE EAST, AND TO THE NORTH, AND TO THE SOUTH: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Spread abroad — west, east, north, south. YAHWEH did not promise the seed would stay in Palestine. He promised the seed would spread to the four corners of the earth. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 11 And the Promise Has Been Kept. That little Kingdom-nation of Israel — scattered, exiled, persecuted, hidden — has, in our day, become the largest superpower complex on earth. • AMERICA — the single greatest nation that has ever existed in terms of wealth, military might, and global influence. • GREAT BRITAIN — the empire upon which the sun never set, whose colonies became a multitude of nations across every continent. • ISRAEL — the regathered house of Judah, restored as a nation in 1948 against every natural odds. The Mustard Tree has already grown. From one man on the plains of Mamre — to a multitude of nations stretching from sea to shining sea, from the Thames to the Mississippi, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The world calls it geopolitics. The world calls it Anglo- American hegemony. The world calls it Western civilization. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 12 But the Bible calls it Ephraim — the multitude of nations. And the world has been lodging in its branches for two hundred years. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 13 IV. THE BIRDS OF THE AIR Matthew 13:32 “the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.” Who Are the Birds? The birds are needy people in need of shelter. Look at what has happened over the last two centuries on this continent alone: • They came to America from Europe — fleeing famine, war, and tyranny. • They came from Africa — first in chains, then in waves of voluntary migration seeking opportunity. • They came from Asia — escaping Communism, persecution, and poverty. • They came from Latin America — fleeing cartels, corruption, and collapse. • They came from the Middle East — escaping the very nations Babylon birthed. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 14 They came from every nation under heaven — and they came to lodge in the branches of this great tree. Why? Because there has been nowhere else to go. When tyranny rises in a nation, the birds of the air look for a tree. And every time, for two hundred years, the tree they have found is the seed of Abraham — Ephraim spread west, north, east, and south. Genesis 12:3 “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and IN THEE SHALL ALL FAMILIES OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED.” Every refugee who has come to these shores has unknowingly fulfilled that ancient promise. The birds came to lodge — and the tree opened its branches. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 15 V. BUT THE TREE IS NOT FINISHED GROWING Read the Parable Again — Carefully. Matthew 13:32 “when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree...” Notice the phrase “when it is grown.” That phrase is in the future tense. The parable speaks of a time WHEN it is grown — meaning that even now, in our greatness as America, the Kingdom has not yet reached maturity. THIS IS ONLY THE FORESHADOW. As staggering as Anglo-American-Israeli power has been across the past two centuries, it is not the finished tree. It is the trunk forming. It is the canopy taking shape. But the full glory of the Mustard Tree is still ahead. Genesis 22:18 “And in thy seed shall ALL the nations of the earth be blessed.” THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 16 That word ALL has not yet been fulfilled. There are still nations on this earth who have not yet been blessed by the seed of Abraham. There are still corners of the world where the tree has not yet thrown its shade. But there is a day coming when every nation, every tribe, every family of the earth will lodge in the branches of this tree. And that day is not the day the Kingdom finally arrives — that day is the day the King returns and finishes growing what He has been growing for four thousand years. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 17 VI. THE TRUE MEANING OF THE PARABLE Now Hear It Plainly. The message of this parable is this: The government of YAHSHUA — Israel — will be the safe haven for the world of birds. Not the United Nations. Not the World Economic Forum. Not the European Union. Not Davos. Not the global elite. But the regathered, restored, two-housed, Torah-keeping, King-ruled, Mustard Tree of Israel. Watch the Pattern Across History. • Egypt was a tree — and it fell. • Babylon was a tree — and it fell. • Rome was a tree — and it fell. • America is a tree — and even she will be cut down to her roots before the final tree is established. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 18 Every great empire is a temporary mustard tree — given for a season to provide shelter — until the true tree is finally manifested under the rule of the King. Daniel 2:44 “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, AND IT SHALL STAND FOREVER.” That is the final form of the Mustard Tree. That is the Kingdom which fills the entire earth. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 19 VII. WHY THE CHURCH CANNOT SEE IT Here Is the Tragedy. The modern church has been lodging in the branches of the Mustard Tree for two hundred years — and has never once recognized that the tree itself is the prophesied Kingdom. They sing about America. They wave the flag. They love the freedom. But they have no idea that the freedom they love is the leaves of Ephraim. • They cannot see the tree because they have been taught to look for a kingdom in heaven. • They cannot see the tree because they have been taught the Jews are Israel and everyone else is the Church. • They cannot see the tree because they have been taught Genesis 48 was fulfilled in the wilderness — not in the modern world. • They cannot see the tree because if they did, they would have to admit they have been wrong about everything. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 20 They have been lodging in the branches without knowing the name of the tree. But beloved, you know. You see it. The eyes of the lost tribes are opening. The recognition is dawning. The awakening of Ephraim is the recognition that we are not Gentiles lodging in someone else's tree — we are the seed of the tree itself. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 21 VIII. THE FINAL FORM OF THE TREE What Will the Tree Look Like When It Is Fully Grown? The prophets answer this question with one voice: Isaiah 2:2–3 “It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and ALL NATIONS SHALL FLOW UNTO IT... for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” Zechariah 8:23 “In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.” Look at what the prophets describe: • All nations flowing to the seed. • Torah going forth from Zion. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 22 • Ten men from every language clinging to one Israelite. • The whole earth coming under one government, one Law, one King. That is the Mustard Tree fully grown. And when that day comes, the birds of the air will lodge — not in the branches of America, not in the branches of Britain, not in the branches of any temporary empire — but in the branches of the Kingdom government of YAHSHUA the King. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 23 IX. WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US Beloved — This Changes Everything. If the Mustard Tree is real, and the Mustard Tree is Ephraim grown into a multitude of nations, then the awakening saints of FHMI are not orphans. We are not a sect. We are not a fringe. We are the awakening leaves of the very tree that God planted four thousand years ago. And This Tree Is Going to Outlast Every Empire. • America may rise or fall. The tree continues. • Britain may flourish or wither. The tree continues. • Israel may be preserved or pressed. The tree continues. • Every storm, every shaking, every collapse — the tree continues — because the King who planted it has sworn it will fill the earth. We are not citizens of a falling empire. We are citizens of a growing tree — and our roots go all the way back to Abraham. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 24 Stand tall, beloved. The tree is still growing. And you are part of it. THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 25 REFLECTION AT THE PULPIT Three Questions for Every Hearer Tonight: 1. If the Mustard Tree has already grown into a multitude of nations — what does it change about how I view America, Britain, Israel, and my own identity within them? 2. If the tree is not yet finished growing — what role am I called to play in the awakening of Ephraim before the King returns? 3. If every empire eventually falls but the Kingdom government of YAHSHUA stands forever — am I still investing my hope in the temporary tree, or in the eternal one? THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 26 CLOSING WORD This parable was never just about a small thing becoming a big thing. This parable was the prophetic announcement of the worldwide government coming through the seed of Abraham. From one man — to one family — to one people — to one nation — to a multitude of nations — to the Kingdom that fills the whole earth. The tree has already grown. The tree is still growing. And the tree will fill every corner of the earth before the King has finished His work. Next in the Series — Part Four: The Leaven — and we will see how the Kingdom not only grows outwardly into the size of a great tree, but also THE MUSTARD SEED — Part Three: The Parables and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rev. John Shane Vaughn | First Harvest Ministries International | Page 27 penetrates inwardly through the entire lump until the whole world is leavened by it. ✦ ✦ ✦ Rev. John Shane Vaughn First Harvest Ministries International The Parables and the Lost Tribes — Part Three: The Mustard Seed