The Kingdom of God Will Grow
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Intro:
Intro:
These next two parables we are going to look at deal with growth in the kingdom of God. If you havn’t noticed, all these parables deal with the kingdom of God. In ark 4:1-20, we read about the parable of the soils Jesus teaches the disciples why the world has various reactions to him. For example in we see that some followed Jesus
for what they cane get from him
yet others followed Jesus to disprove him
yet his family heard about him and thought he was a lunatic
yet there were others who loved him and followed
I am sure these Jewish followers of Christ began wondering, if Jesus is the messiah why isn’t everyone following him?
Have you wondered that, If Jesus is God and so good, why isn’t every one following him?
So Jesus told the parable of the soils to describe the hearts of the people and how they respond to the Gospel of Jesus.
Then Jesus goes on to say, this kingdom is not meant to be hidden and it’s fulfilment which is proclaimed in the OT is coming to light in the new through Christ. What are you going to do with this kingdom of God, are you going to hide it, ignore it and forget it? Or are you going to respond to it, submit to it and live for it? Listen to the warning Jesus gives based on your response;
For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
You see the nation of Israel had the truths of the kingdom, the Pharisee, Sadducees and the nation had the seeds of the Gospel in their hands and yet when the God they claimed to worship showed up they accused him of being Lord of the manure, an agent of Satan and they killed him.
For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Now we come to two more parables of the kingdom, which have two do with planting seeds, what are the seeds that Jesus talks about?
In the parable of the soils Jesus tells us that the sower sows seeds he later tells us
Mark 4:14
The sower sows the word.
So we know that the seed is the Word of God, which is the message of the Gospel (good news) of the kingdom of God that has been heralded/preached by Christ since chapter 1.
The whole book is about this message
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Christ has preached the Gospel of the KOG
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Mark 1:
Elements of the message
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
Mark
The importance of Gospel of the KOG being heard
Mark 1
And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
The Gospel of the KOG is for the sinners
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
M
The power of the Gospel of the KOG
1 Pet !
1 Peter 1:
who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
The seeds in these parable is the Gospel of kingdom of God and through these parables Jesus wants us to realize
Kingdom Growth is a mystery
Kingdom growth is a certainty
Kingdom Growth has a deadline
Kingdom Growth has humble beginnings with a glorious ending
I. Kingdom Growth is a Mystery
Mark 4:26-27
And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.
A. Kingdom Growth Requires No Human Effort
The Crowd wanted to force Christ to be king to overthrow Rome to make life easier
Isn’t this what we want sometimes just the Gospel of the kingdom to make our lives easier. We want to force the Gospel to grow on our terms so we change the message to make it fit our agenda to attain comfort, wealth and prosperity.
But as soon as we do that we are creating the Gospel of the kingdom of Me and trying to attain and grow something that isn’t part the Gospel of the kingdom of God. Christ did not come here to make you healthy, wealthy and happy. He came here to save your soul from the damnation of hell, to invite you be a part of building the kingdom of God, a kingdom that is not of this world. i guarantee you there is coming a day when the kingdom of God will make you feel healthy, wealthy and happy but that day will not be in this sin sick world. It will be when i eyes close to this life and open in the next, oh when that day comes what a glorious day it will be!
the Pharisees/Sadducees/Zealots wanted power to overthrow Rome
These groups just wanted the political power to overthrow Rome. The problem, the Gospel of the kingdom was not about attaining political power and toppling world powers… yet. You see what the world was discovering is the messiah’s first coming didn’t fit in their agenda. Jesus first coming was to deal with the sin issue that was creating a chasm as big as the grand canyon and hindering you from coming a part of the Kingdom. His first coming was to go to a cross to overthrow sin that was ruling your, which is a far greater problem than Rome ruling the world.
We still have this going on today, people trying to grow the kingdom by political power. If we only had this person as President, he is a Christian and he will… look I am for political involvement, part of being a citizen of the kingdom is to call out evil, sin and injustice in our day, to stand up for those who can no longer stand up for ourselves. But we should not put our trust in a political message, party or person to grow the kingdom of God.
Friends the Gospel of the Kingdom of God does not require human effort to grow. We need to stop putting our trust in a man to take care of our spiritual problem. What we need to do is start spreading the seed of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God so that God can make enemies into friends.
B. Kingdom Growth Requires No Human Insight to Explain
Look what it says, he knows not how! How did sprout forth into a fruit bearing plant? It’s a mystery how the seed gets planted in a human heart, turns a heart of stone and rocks into a heart of good soil which produces good fruit. How God changes a life is a mystery to the human mind, but here is what I do know, he still in the business of changing lives.
Nothing we do produces or facilitates the growth of the seed in the persons life it is all God!
II. Kingdom Growth is a Certainty
A. The earth produces by itself (automatae)
automatically the earth produces, which implies the life giving power in the seed which is the message of the Gospel of the kingdom.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for
“All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
This seed needs know help from no one to give birth and grow it is the nature of God growing his kingdom through the transforming power of the word.
B. From beginning to end it is all God
The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
From birth, to growth, to fruit bearing plant. this is all the work of the Word’s of God producing life, change and growth. The whole process is God working in the Gospel in the kingdom of God
from the word read or preached and implanted into the heart
to a person submitting Jesus as Lord
from a believer maturing in the faith being changed from glory to glory
to his final glory home, when we shall be like Jesus for we shall see him as he is
From beginning to end its all God sovereignly working to fulfill his purposes and growing his kingdom.
III. Kingdom Growth Has a Deadline
When harvest time came what did they do? They harvested whatever they planted much like we do here. You can drive through the Delta and see people growing corn, but when harvest time comes you see them out in their tractors their corn. seperating the corn from the plant.
In the Bible days they didn’t have tractors and the equipment we do in the 21st century they had a sickle. This sickle was used to separate the harvest the fruit/vegetable from the plant, or to use a Biblical phrase to separate the wheat from the chaff. Listen to this...
And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
There is a deadline to God’s kingdom, when God shuts the door to kingdom growth and says it’s harvest time, lets go get our harvest.
There is a deadline to God’s kingdom, when God shuts the door and says it’s harvest time, lets go get our harvest.
Are you ready? Will you be with the wheat or the chaff? Is your life reflecting the life of fruit bearing member of the body of Christ?
Don’t let another opportunity to submit to God’s rule and reign in your life go by submit to the King.
IV. Kingdom Growth has Humble Beginnings but a Glorious Ending
And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
A. Mustard Seed
Humble Beginnings
small seed
doesn’t appear to be anything but look can be deceiving
Jesus born of a virgin, but to the world it appears out of wedlock
in a cave laid in a feeding trough not a palace
grows up in Nazareth, where even his own followers have said does anything good come from Nazareth
calls 12 nobodies and 1 of them betrays him
dies a humiliating death on the cross, put to death by his own people.
Humble beginnings for sure.
But what does God say?
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 cor 1:
B. A large Glorious Tree
This small tree grows into a glorious tree
We have humble beginning but we must remeber there is a ressurrection, the tomb was empty, there is salvation to all who repent and believe, the veil is torn we have acces to the Father now, we are blessed with the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have the church, the Gospel of the kingdom is preached across the Globe. The Kingdom is advancing and flourishing just like this glorious Mustard Tree.
C. This Kingdom which was birthed in Israel, is for everyone.
Jesus read his OT, he knew his OT and his words, sermons and teachings are filled with OT references.
Jesus says that this tree grows and puts out large branches...
so that
Words are important even small ones, this “so that” is a purpose clause. which means that the purpose for the seed growing into this glorious tree is so that
the birds of the air can make nests in the shade.
What does this mean?
On the mountain height of Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest.
All the birds of the heavens
made their nests in its boughs;
under its branches all the beasts of the field
gave birth to their young,
and under its shadow
lived all great nations.
The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.
Dan 4:1
What is the purpose for this kingdom growing into a glorious tree,
so that people from every tribe, nation and kingdom can rest in its shade. this kingdom is not for an exclusive group of people it is for all peoples, they just have to come into through repentance and faith and abide in the shade of the king.
Conclusion:
The first sermon in chapter 4, the parable of the soils, I entitled it the Art of Listening, because Jesus placed an emphasis listening to the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
From Jesus refers to listening or hearing 10 x’s
“Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
so that
“ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”
Mark 4:12
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.
With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.
Let me ask you, are you listening?
Are you hearing the message us of the Kingdom, do you understand that the secrets of the kingdom are given to you as a citizen of his kingdom.
Does all this sound like gibberish to you?
What Jesus is getting at is how you hear, listen determines if you are an outsider in his kingdom or an insider. So where are you at today? I encourage you to evaluate your life in light of the Gospel of the kingdom of God.
He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.