The Boundless, Mysterious Kingdom

Open your Bibles with me to Mark 4.

As you find your places, let me tell you about a memory that came to me as I studied for this morning.

When I was a child, I was a massive fan of the movie “The Never-Ending Story.”

In it, a boy named Bastian slips away to the school attic to read a magical book about a boy named Atrayu, this warrior that is really a reflection of the real boy’s self-image.

Atrayu goes on a long and dangerous journey to fight “The Nothing,” which lives beyond the boundaries of Fantasia and is destroying it.

Atrayu has to fight G’mork, the servant of the nothing.

In a conversation before their fight, G’mork laughs at Atrayu’s quest because he is looking for Fantasia’s boundaries.

“Fantasia,” he says, “has no boundaries.”

With that story in mind, let’s turn to the very real and very true Word of God, as we read from Mark 4 together, starting in verse 21.

Because of the length of the passage, you can stay seated, but let’s read together from the Word of God:

Mark 4:21–34 (CSB) He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.” And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.” He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.

Pray

The Kingdom of God is one of the most important subjects in all of Scripture.

Consider this:

In the Book of Acts, chapter 1, after Jesus had risen from the dead, He appeared to the disciples over 40 days, and we’re told that His purpose in this was two fold:

He proved that He was alive again and again by many convincing proofs.

AND He taught them about the Kingdom of God.

Jesus knew that this would be the last time He was physically present on earth with His disciples, and what He talked about was the Kingdom of God.

This shouldn’t surprise us, because Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God more than any other subject.

And yet, the Kingdom of God seems to be a subject that many followers of Jesus know little about.

Most think about it as Heaven

that place far away where we will spend eternity with Jesus when this life is over.

The Kingdom of God certainly includes Heaven.

But Jesus’ showed us that the Kingdom of God goes far beyond that place.

The Kingdom of God is not just a future Heaven or a politcal regime. It is:

God’s rule and reign in people’s hearts and lives.

It is a call to live under God’s authority now, not just later.

It is a reversal of worldly values-where the humble, the meek, and the merciful are exalted.

There isn’t enough time this morning for us to unpack all that the Kingdom of God is, but our passage contains a series of parables that all are dealing with the Kingdom of God.

In our passage today,

Jesus said God’s Kingdom grows mysteriously and powerfully, revealing truth to those ready to receive it.

And for this is still true for us today.

God will grow His Kingdom in you if you truly seek it.

So, how do we seek the Kingdom of God? Jesus gives us at least five different ways. Let’s look at them.

Mark 4:21–23 CSB

He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.”

The first way Jesus says to seek the Kingdom is this:

Fill your life with the light of Jesus .

Alot of people look at these verses and they think that Jesus is just talking about sharing the Gospel with others, like in Matthew 5:14-16.

That is certainly part of seeking God’s Kingdom.

And, if you fill your life with the light of Jesus, you will certainly share the Gospel.

But that isn’t the center of what Jesus is saying here.

My house is full of stuff. And stuff gets moved around.

I’m often the first one out of bed in the morning, and trying not to wake other people up, I often move around in the dark.

Sometimes, this ends badly because I can’t see what has been hidden from me by the darkness.

The Kingdom is hidden, but Jesus is the light that reveals it.

The Kingdom of God is all around you, and Jesus is the ONLY ONE who can reveal it to you.

But the thing is that you have to let His light fill you. Otherwise, it just blinds you because you’re living in darkness.

John 1:5 NASB95

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Let Jesus fill your life, and the Kingdom of God and your understanding of it will grow.

That means spending time reading His Word.

That means letting Jesus show you your sins.

That means confessing your sin and repenting from it.

That means obeying what He says in His Word because in a Kingdom you obey the King.

Most of the world around you, and even many Christians, aren’t doing these things because the Kingdom of God is hidden and they can’t see it.

If you seek His Kingdom, let the light of Jesus fill your life.

Let’s continue:

Mark 4:23–25 CSB

If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

The second way Jesus says to seek the Kingdom is this:

Give everything you can to following Jesus.

Think of the time that you have been given on this earth as a bag of gold.

The minutes, the hours, the days, weeks and years are all golden coins of differing size and weight.

You are free to spend or invest your gold however you wish.

You can squander it all, or you can invest it and see a massive return in a Kingdom that will never end.

Every day, every minute, you make decisions to spend or invest your life.

Money, time, talents, words, every moment you are either spending or investing.

And Jesus is saying that your wealth in God’s Kingdom depends on your investment in it

Your are only going to get out of your relationship with Jesus what you put into it.

When you lean into Jesus’ teaching—listening carefully, reflecting deeply, and responding obediently—you grow

When you ignore Him, dismiss Him, and treat following Him like an obligation-what faith you have will fade or be lost entirely

But the cost of investing will seem like nothing compared to what you will get out of it!

If you invest in knowing, understanding, and applying God’s Word in your life, The more of it you will receive-and the more it will transform your life.

The more of your life you invest in seeking Jesus, the more of His Kingdom you will see in your life. This is why Jesus says:

Matthew 6:33 CSB

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Let’s continue with verse 26:

Mark 4:26–29 (CSB) “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The third way that Jesus says to seek the Kingdom is this:

Share Jesus everywhere and leave the growth to God.

In elementary school, I remember planting lima beans in clear plastic cups.

Every day we would look at our cups, and every day they were magically changed.

The Gospel is like those lima beans in the soil of the hearts of men.

Following Jesus means that we know Him as intimately as we can, and we make Him known to everyone that we can.

As we follow Jesus, each one of us is responsible to invest in the Kingdom by sharing the Gospel, scattering its seed wherever we can. But as we do, we need to remember:

The Kingdom has been given to us to share, but only God can bring growth to a harvest .

We cannot grow God’s Kingdom-you cannot grow God’s Kingdom-Only God can do that.

Remembering this is important, because it teaches us an important Kingdom concept:

The power of the Kingdom is with the King.

When the power of God moves in and through us, it is because He is in us, not because of anything about us.

Because He is the One who brings the growth, the more that we share Him, the more Of Him we will see!

In the growth of others who hear when we share.

And in the growth He brings in our own lives because Gospel proclamation also furthers transformation in the life of the proclaimer.

In other words, sharing the Gospel causes growth in you.

This brings us to the next section

Mark 4:30–32 NASB95

And He said, “How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? “It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.”

The fourth way Jesus says to seek the Kingdom is this:

Look for the Kingdom in humble beginnings.

The picture of the growth from a mustard seed to a tree is so beautiful.

Here what no one would have considered important, which might have been eaten by a bird now holds the weight of many birds and offers them shade from the heat.

When I go to the gym, I always love see people who are just starting out.

They are laying on the bench, and sometimes all they can lift is the bar.

They are there, struggling against those 45 pounds as though the earth was hanging on it.

But when you look over and see the guy lifting 250, what is striking is that he started struggling under 45 pounds.

This principle is so important:

The Kingdom grows from insignificance to the very source of life, shelter and blessing.

It is true in the life of a new believer as they slowly grow into the mature believer that others rely on.

It is true as God grows your character.

He starts with small things that change about you until one day those around you look and see that the person in front of them is no longer the same person.

We always look at the big and the grand, as though those things are the most important.

D.L. Moody was a powerful preacher and an effective evangelist. It is estimated that he preached to 10 to 20,000people.

By many, He is considered the greatest evangelist of his day.

But at the same time Moody was preaching, a simple businessman named Jeremy Lanphier started a small prayer meeting in Manhatten on his lunch break. That prayer meeting grew and multiplied, and before it was over more than 1 million people had come to faith as a direct result of the prayer meetings.

In 1858, at the height of the revival, churches in America grew by over 10%.

You’ve likely never heard of Jeremy Lanphier, but close to his death, D.L. Moody prayed he’d live to see another revival the likes of the one in ‘57.

Your role in Kingdom work may seem small at times. The preacher preaching to 20 may feel as though his role is insignificant.

But Jesus commands us to be faithful in these most humble beginnings-Because that is where He will grow the Kingdom of God.

Let’s look quickly to the last few verses:

Mark 4:33–34 CSB

He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.

There are far more than five ways that Jesus teaches us to Seek the Kingdom, but as we round out our look at this passage this morning, the fifth way Jesus tells us to seek the Kingdom is this:

Relentlessly search for understanding

Throughout Mark, we’ve been watching the growth of this crowd.

We’ve been contrasting the different groups of people around Jesus.

Last week, we were talking about the reason Jesus taught in parables.

That many would hear, but that only those who were truly seeking would understand.

In this passage, we’re seeing the same thing play out again, and it has an important message for us:

The Kingdom will only grow in the lives of those who seek it.

If you stayed at the surface level of the ocean, you would miss the true beauty of what it contains.

Jesus taught parables publicly, but He only explained them in private, to those that are really seeking Him.

The Kingdom of God is revealed to you more and more as you grow.

It grows in your life as the Spirit lives and works in you.

It happens progressively, not over night.

It happens relationally, as every day you seek to know Jesus and to make Him known.

And what this means is that you can never stop seeking, never stop searching.

The only way to more greatly understand the Kingdom is to more fully follow Jesus.

The Kingdom of God has no boundaries. It starts as a tiny whisper in your heart as you first encounter Jesus, and it will grow to encompass your whole life and the world around you.

But the only way into the Kingdom is to meet Jesus at the cross and to follow Him home.

This morning, maybe you’re here and you’ve realized that you don’t know what it means to seek the Kingdom of God because you’ve yet to even meet Jesus.

Like those in the crowd, you’ve been here, just waiting to see something awesome happen.

But in our time here together this morning, you’ve realized that you are ready for more

You’ve realized that you want to know more about Jesus, and you are ready to start seeking His Kingdom.

And if that’s you this morning, I’ve got good new for you:

Matthew 7:7–8 CSB

“Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

The Kingdom of God is here, right here in this room with us this morning.

It is as close as the breath you are breathing.

Jesus is right here, ready to meet with you.

And today could be your day for a humble beginning.

And whether you’re a part of Waypoint, you’re here just checking us out, or you’re visiting us from far away to help with camp this week, let me just say it doesn’t matter why you think you’re here, just that you are.

And today, you’ve heard the truth that Jesus spoke in parables.

He is asking you if you want to go deeper.

And if the answer is yes, you are in the right place.

I’m going to pray for us.

The worship team is going to lead us in a song of reflection, and then we’re going to close out our time of worship together.

But if you’re ready to go deeper in the Kingdom of God, I invite you to come talk to me.

I’ll be standing right here after the service.

Or, if that’s too much, you can send me a message. Just use that qr code on the back of your chair and let me know you want to meet.

But I’d love the chance to pray with you, and then to set up a time that we can get together and talk about following Jesus.

In every section of our passage today, we were told to listen! To pay attention! I hope that you were.

For the Kingdom of God is for those who are looking for it.

Pray.