The Faith of a Mustard Seed Elaborated

Matthew 13:31-32, Mark 4:30-32 and Luke 13:18-19 has the Lord Jesus talk about the mustard seed and how it eventually grows overtime.  Looking at it, the mustard seeds starts as a small as it may be, when it was planted and tended, it became a great tree that bore much fruit and the fowls of the air were on its branches.  So how does this apply to the Christian?  Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, Mark 10:15 and Luke 18:17 that one must receive the Kingdom of God as a little child or likewise one cannot enter.  That is unless they see their need for God, they cannot even see the need for salvation.  

Here's an excerpt from Matthew Henry's commentary series, "Christ spoke many words of His sufferings, but only one of His glory; yet the disciples fasten upon that, and overlook the others. Many love to hear and speak of privileges and glory, who are willing to pass by the thoughts of work and trouble. Our Lord set a little child before them, solemnly assuring them, that unless they were converted and made like little children, they could not enter his kingdom. Children, when very young, do not desire authority, do not regard outward distinctions, are free from malice, are teachable, and willingly dependent on their parents. It is true that they soon begin to show other dispositions, and other ideas are taught them at an early age; but these are marks of childhood, and render them proper emblems of the lowly minds of true Christians. Surely we need to be daily renewed in the spirit of our minds, that we may become simple and humble, as little children, and willing to be the least of all. Let us daily study this subject, and examine our own spirits."  So looking at it, it takes that kind of faith to receive Jesus Christ as one's Lord and Savior.

God does not desire that Christians remain as infants, He wants them to grow from infancy to adulthood so they can continue to reach out to to others to fulfill the great end time call in Matthew 24:14.  So what does He do?  Hebrews 12:5-6 says He does chastising.  The Bible instructs Christians to GROW UP in God's grace DAILY going from milk to solid foods (1 Corinthians 14:20, Ephesians 4:14, Hebrews 5:13-15, 1 Peter 2:2-3).  If one is to talk, it's not just evangelism but following up converts for the sake of DISCIPLESHIP as the inevitable result.  Acts 11:26 calls that the disciples were first called Christians marking every Christian is a disciple.  Disciples obey because they are disciples, not to become disciples.  And the pattern of the expansion of the Church has always been preaching and discipleship, where each one reach one to the Savior and together they can tell the world that Jesus is the Way only if one one reach one.

If one is faithful in few and in small can be faithful in much bigger and plentiful things in the future.  God starts always with the small tasks for believers and He gradually increases that task being with them along the way through His Holy Spirit.  One of the greatest demonstrations of this truth can be between Paul and Peter.  When Peter first preached his first Sunday sermon in Acts 2, about 3,000 souls were converted in just ONE Sunday.  Paul was just one man yet he had evangelized to the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Thessalonians, Colossians and Galatians after he preached in Israel creating the fourteen letters (Romans to Hebrews).  Despite trials and being a small seed, yet the faith of God continues to grow and bear fruit which is the evidence of real conversion not false.