Sow and Rest

Good Morning

Talk about service. Thank all the military members for their service.

Talk about Lord’s Supper.

Talk about 5th Sunday Sing

Did you know Bruce Lee had a brother? His name is Broco Lee!

It’s a shame that the Beetles didn’t make the submarine in that song green. That would have been sublime.

This morning we are going to be in Mark 4: 26-34. Last week we talked about sharing the Good News. We were not given the light of Christ to keep to ourselves. We are to shine that light in this dark world. We also talked about the more we learn about the Bible and the more we apply it to our lives, God will unlock more of His truth for us to learn and apply.

The week before that we looked at the different kinds of soils how that affected the seed.

Today we are going to be talking about the seed again. This parable in Mark is not in any of the other gospels. It complements the parable of the soils by explaining in more depth about the spiritual growth accomplished in the good soil.

Let’s pray.

Please stand as we read the Word of God.

Mark 4:26–34 NASB 2020

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up daily, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the stalk, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 Now when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” 30 And He was saying, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is the smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants, and forms large branches, with the result that the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.” 33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to understand it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

First we see that Mark tells us that Jesus has changed who He is talking to. It starts out with He said, it doesn’t say that He said to them. He is now talking to the crowd again. I love to garden and grow things. It is amazing to me to take a small seed and put it in soil and watch it grow to a mature plant that produces food for me and my family. My favorite part is the germinating of the seeds. I like to put the seeds in soil and water it and then place it in this closet I converted into a germinating room. It has LED grow lights and a heat pad. But I have a secret to make the seeds germinate. Every time I walk by the room, I open the door and check on them. If they haven’t germinated yet, I call them lazy seeds. I joking about having a secret to getting them to germinate, but I do check on them constantly. Even if it has only been 30 minutes after I put them in the closet, I still check on them. My wife shakes her head at me when she hears me talking to the seeds. There is nothing that I can do to make the seeds germinate other than putting them in the soil and watering them. In this parable, Jesus is telling us that not only can we not make the seed grow, we can not even explain how it grows. Jesus tells us that the farmer sows the seed and then goes to bed. He has nothing to do with the growth of the seed. He is just responsible for sowing it. There is a mystery to the growth of the seed. Jesus is showing us the innate power of the seed. The Word of God has within it the power of its own success and triumph. Let the Word loose and watch it work! Just like the farmer who watches the seed grow and mature and begin to fruit. We are to sow the Gospel and then watch it grow. The farmer is not the focus in this parable, the focus is on the seed. The farmer is passive in this because the power for the seed to sprout and grow in not in the farmer, it is in the seed. The seed has within it the power of its own generation. When we sow the seed in a receptive soul, off it goes! The coming of the kingdom is not dependent on human activity. The seed of the gospel prospers and grows of itself. Once we sow the seed of truth, a process is set in motion that cannot and will not be stopped, even though its growth is a total mystery to us. We can tell the exact same gospel message to different people and it could have very different results. One can receive it and it will grow and mature and begin to produce fruit almost immediately. Another can receive it and it could take years for the seed to germinate, grow, and start producing fruit. And yet another could hear it and it have no effect at all on them. We have no idea who the seed is going to grow in. We cannot explain it at all. It takes a lot of faith to be a farmer, and a lot of patience. In the parable of the soils, we saw that a lot of the seed will fall on bad ground and not be productive. This could be very discouraging to many people. Jesus reassured His workers that in due season, they will reap if we do not get discouraged. Jesus ends the first parable by telling us that there will be a harvest when it is time. We just have to be patient and ready to go when the time is right. We sow and then we wait for the harvest. We check in on the seed regularly to see if it is ready for harvest. Even though we may not be able to see God’s kingdom growing today, it is and one day we must be ready for the harvest. God didn’t design His kingdom to come in like a tidal wave or a lightning bolt. He has designed it like the garden, it is slow but steady growth, that ends in a harvest of it fruit. As long as we continue to sow the seed, we will see the harvest in it due time. God’s kingdom started with just 12 men and who would have imagined that it would have grown to what it is today. It’s not done growing either! It will continue to grow until God says it is done. We sow, God grows, we harvest, all to His glory. God is the one who makes the seed grow. We have nothing to do with it. We sow and then watch it grow!

In the last parable in the chapter, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a mustard seed. The mustard seed was renowned for its size in Palestine because it was the smallest of all the seeds that were sown. It isn’t the smallest seed of all the plants, it was the smallest that they grew in their gardens. When the mustard seed germinates and grows, it can grow up to 15’ tall and 15’ wide. It is completely out of proportion to itself. Something so small can grow so big. We have a picture of a mustard seed and a mustard tree. It is amazing who big something so small can get so big. That is just like the kingdom of God, it started with just a few men, and look at it now. It has grown to reach all around the world. Unlike His first coming, when Christ returns, all the world will see as He surpasses all the earthly kingdoms in power, glory, and majesty. That should encourage anyone who has labored for the kingdom and is feeling discouraged. Because of this truth, we can endure the rejection and persecution, and even in some cases martyrdom! God’s kingdom is large and is still growing today.

In the second part of this story, Jesus tells us that even the birds can take shelter in the mustard tree. I believe that the birds represent the unbelievers that benefit from the kingdom of God. This country was founded on the word of God and because of His hand on this country, many people and nations have benefited from it. God, causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. His kingdom not only benefits His children, but also those who reject Him. Because of this, we are not to just look to help those who are are brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to also help those who are not. God’s kingdom is so big that even the unbelievers benefit from it. It is through this benefit to the unbelievers, that some will come to saving faith. Through this love that is shown to them, they will believe. We are not to pick and chose who we bless, we are to bless all that we can. We let Christ sort out the wheat from the tares. Just like we can make the seed grow, we can not see into someone’s heart to see if they are a true believer or not. We are to just love them and help any way that we can. The mustard seed tree that is the kingdom of God, is a tree of love. It’s fruit is love. We must love everyone.

We are to sow the seed and then watch it grow. We must be ready for the harvest. Jesus said that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. We need to make sure that we are 1. sowing the seeds of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 2. We are getting ready for the harvest. We don’t know how to make the seed grow or even how it grows, we just know that God Word does not come back void. It accomplishes it task. Continue to sow seeds Liberty. Let’s get ready for the harvest when God says it is ready.

The kingdom of God is big, it benefits His children and those that are not His. We are to love all people, regardless of who they belong to, or if they can help us at all. We do the loving, God does the sorting.

Liberty, I am excited to see what God has in store for us. I am excited to get to sow seeds with you in Duncan and for the harvest that God is preparing for us. Let’s continue to do are part, continue to be obedient to His commands. He is faithful to provide a harvest.

Lets pray.