Sign/ Christianity Becoming the Leading World Religion


The Parable of the Mustard Seed


The third Parable of the Kingdom is a vignette from gardening.

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:

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.

Matthew 13:31-32

Jesus predicts that in the historical period preceding His return, something exceedingly small, like a mustard seed, will grow to be exceedingly large, like a mustard plant towering above the other herbs of the garden.

What is this organism of phenomenal growth if not the church? For the church indeed began exceedingly small, as only 120 in the Upper Room (Acts 1:15). Yet the church—or, more precisely, nominal Christianity—has become the largest religion in the world. As recently as 2005, all the people throughout the world who called themselves Christians were far more numerous than the followers of any other religion. Although the organized church has split into many denominations, Christianity as a whole embraced about one third of the world's population. There were about as many Christians as Muslims and Hindus combined, these being the adherents of the next two largest religions.1

So, the Parable of the Mustard Seed is a remarkable prophecy. Two thousand years ago, before the church even existed, Jesus knew that He was founding a religious movement that would continue and prosper until it overshadowed all rivals.


Sign/ Christianity Becoming Worldwide


The Great Commission


Elsewhere in His teaching, Jesus explained how the professing church would become so large. The dominance of Christianity over other religions would come about through worldwide evangelism.

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Matthew 28:18-20

A literal translation of verse 19 starts, "Going therefore teach [or, disciple] all the nations." The verb "teach" is in the imperative mood.2 The meaning is that teaching all nations is a command rather than an option that churches can accept or reject according to their preference. So, here in the Great Commission, Jesus clearly presented the work of worldwide evangelism as the certain will of God.


The commission in Acts


But also in another last instruction to the disciples, Jesus viewed the same work as something that the church will actually accomplish.

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Acts 1:8

In the words, "Ye shall be witnesses," He uses the future tense in the indicative mood, treating the evangelization of the uttermost part of the earth as a certain future achievement.3 Thus, He is clearly saying that before He returns, the gospel will in fact reach the uttermost part of the earth.

The prediction can be understood in two ways: as a broad prediction that the church would expand to every place or as a narrow prediction that it would go to one certain place. Where was Jesus standing when He spoke? He was on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem. In relation to that specific point on the globe, where is the uttermost part of the earth? It is the directly opposite point on the globe. That point lies in the South Pacific Ocean, and the closest inhabited island is Rapa-iti. Although small and remote, it was not overlooked in the early years of the modern missionary movement. The first preacher to land there was John Davies of the London Missionary Society. Soon after his arrival in 1826, all of the island’s inhabitants adopted Christianity as their religion.4

Yet as we said, Jesus’ instruction could be understood more generally as a prediction that the gospel would go everywhere in the world. This too has been fulfilled. The modern era since 1800 has been an age of great missionary enterprise, pushing the gospel to every nation under the sun. Statistics compiled in 2001 show that the church’s goal of reaching the whole world has been substantially attained.

We should not overstate the progress. Although the gospel today is available to nearly everyone in the world, personal evangelism has confronted only a small minority, and perhaps 15-25% of the world's population has never heard the gospel.6

Yet what has been accomplished so far seems in itself a fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy that the gospel would go to the uttermost part before He returned. Within my lifetime, virtually all the last places deprived of the gospel have finally heard it. Today’s global culture held together by mass communications has spread so aggressively that it has probably reached or will soon reach any remote tribes overlooked by missionaries. Thus, no uncompleted task prevents Christ from returning now.

Jesus' last commissions to the church therefore had great significance not only for the early church, but also for the church in our day. First, they give us remarkable prophecies that have been fulfilled within recent history. Second, they give us another major sign that the end is near. That sign is the worldwide span of the church. Third, above all else they remind us that God still expects us to do whatever we can to spread the gospel throughout the world.

Footnotes

  1. "Worldwide Adherents of All Religions, Mid-2005," Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, http://www. britannica.com/eb/article-9432620/Worldwide-Adherents-of-All-Religions-Mid-2005.
  2. The Analytical Greek Lexicon (New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers; London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, Limited, n.d.), 255.
  3. Ibid., 168.
  4. Rhys Richards, "The Earliest Foreign Visitors and Their Massive Depopulation of Rapa-iti from 1824 to 1830," Journal de la Société des Océanistes, 118, année 2004–1.
  5. Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, Operation World: 21st Century Edition (Bulstrode, Gerrards Cross, UK: WEC International, n.d.), 7.
  6. Ibid., 8.

This lesson comes from Ed Rickard's recent book on signs of the times. Although it incorporates much material already posted on this site, it also has further discussions, such as an entire chapter on the rapture and its aftermath and an entire chapter on mankind's growing vulnerability to wars, famines, plagues, and earthquakes. Also, it discusses the probable origins of the Antichrist and false prophet, and it presents the sign that Jesus implied would be a final alert that the Rapture is near. For a brief description and for information on how to obtain the book, click here.