WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.419 Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church, 00:00:07.419 --> 00:00:13.720 and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today. A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. 00:00:13.780 --> 00:00:18.780 We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats, 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:23.760 but because we're following Jesus together as one community, and as we follow Jesus together, 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:29.539 we become convinced that there's no one so good. They don't need God's grace, and no one so bad 00:00:29.539 --> 00:00:36.259 that they can't have it, which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us 00:00:36.259 --> 00:00:42.219 in His Word. We're continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark, and you'll remember that the 00:00:42.219 --> 00:00:49.099 Gospels tell the story of Jesus and His life and His death and His resurrection, and we've been in Mark 00:00:49.099 --> 00:00:55.420 chapter 4. The last couple of weeks, we've looked at the topic of hearing, how important and urgent it is, 00:00:55.420 --> 00:01:00.660 and two weeks ago, we looked at the parable of the sower and the seed that showed us how the Word, 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:07.019 that is the Bible, how God speaks to us, hits different kinds of soils. Now, this week, we're 00:01:07.019 --> 00:01:13.219 going to again come to this image of the seed, but from a quite different perspective. When we looked at 00:01:13.219 --> 00:01:18.420 it two weeks ago, we looked at the importance of the soil. We're shifting our perspective now, 00:01:18.480 --> 00:01:24.219 and we're looking not at the importance of the soil, but the power of the seed. Before, we looked at those 00:01:24.219 --> 00:01:29.859 who receive the Word, and so that's why we had many warnings about hearing that we would receive it 00:01:29.859 --> 00:01:37.340 well. This week, we look not at those who receive the Word, but at those who sow the Word. And in fact, 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:44.299 that is all of us in some way if we speak about God and His ways. That is all of us in some way as we 00:01:44.299 --> 00:01:51.579 live out our faith. Now, you might feel as you live life as a Christian that your efforts are at times 00:01:51.579 --> 00:01:59.679 futile and powerless. You see the work, you feel it, but you don't see the results that you want. 00:02:00.759 --> 00:02:06.439 You see it in parenting, in your job, in your work, in the ministry, in ways you serve, in church, 00:02:06.500 --> 00:02:12.439 you're laboring hard in relationships with friends and family, and you wonder if anything is actually 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:23.240 happening. If what you do and say matters in any way, or if it's just words that go away on the wind, 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:32.639 and if you're wasting all your time, maybe you feel crushed, and you believe that making things happen 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:38.819 is all up to you. If that's true, thankfully, our passage this morning is going to address those 00:02:38.819 --> 00:02:44.859 things. And so I invite you to turn now to Mark chapter 4. We're starting at verse 26. You can 00:02:44.859 --> 00:02:50.599 turn in your worship guide. You can turn in your Bible. You can turn on your phone. No matter how 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:56.099 you read, remember that this is God's Word. And God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold, 00:02:56.599 --> 00:03:02.359 even the finest gold, and it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb. 00:03:02.360 --> 00:03:07.180 And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 26. And He said, 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:15.540 the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, 00:03:15.800 --> 00:03:24.060 and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how. The earth produces by itself first the blade, 00:03:24.380 --> 00:03:31.740 then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once He puts in the sickle, 00:03:31.740 --> 00:03:38.740 because the harvest has come. I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word. 00:03:40.280 --> 00:03:47.000 Our Father in heaven, we thank you again that you speak to us, that you explain things to us, 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:52.680 Father, that you teach us. We ask that you would remind us not to take that for granted, 00:03:52.860 --> 00:03:58.000 and we ask that you would do that this morning by your Spirit, that you would help us to understand 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:05.419 and to hear your Word, and you would use your Word in a powerful way to encourage us, to challenge us, 00:04:05.419 --> 00:04:14.020 and most of all, to see the glory and greatness of Jesus Christ. We ask all these things in His name. Amen. 00:04:14.020 --> 00:04:27.860 In late 2019, Netflix came out with this docuseries called Inside Bill's Brain, Decoding Bill Gates. 00:04:28.579 --> 00:04:34.780 And the goal of the series was to try to understand Bill, and so it dives into his childhood, 00:04:35.139 --> 00:04:41.740 and his marriage, and his current projects. And in episode one, we find out that Bill and his wife 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:47.060 at the time, Melinda, have read this article from the New York Times about how children in the third 00:04:47.060 --> 00:04:54.180 world are dying because sewage is making its way into drinking water. And so Bill, being incensed by 00:04:54.180 --> 00:05:00.139 this, gets to work trying to figure out how to set up sanitation and sewer systems in the third world. 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:06.759 It turns out you can't simply import what we do here. He has to invent something entirely new, 00:05:06.860 --> 00:05:10.960 and so they go off on this journey of trying to figure out how they can make this work. 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:17.000 Bill ends up calling a mechanical engineer by the name of Peter Janicki to help him. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:25.159 And about 30 minutes into this episode, we see Janicki is next to this pile of sewer sludge, 00:05:25.459 --> 00:05:32.060 and in the midst of this sludge, you see some plants starting to sprout up. And he turns 00:05:32.060 --> 00:05:37.240 to the camera as he's pushing around this sludge with his shovel, and he says this. He says, 00:05:37.240 --> 00:05:44.540 so this is a sewer sludge. What do you think's growing in there? And he answers his own question, 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:52.439 tomatoes. You know why? Because people eat tomatoes. And the seeds go through the person, 00:05:52.800 --> 00:06:00.079 and they end up here. I mentioned this this morning not because I want to talk about poop, 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:07.199 but instead because there is something miraculous and impressive going on here. There are seeds that 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:13.539 can survive the human digestive system. They survive the journey to the sewer. And after all those things, 00:06:13.539 --> 00:06:20.620 they are still able to take root and sprout. Seeds are powerful and resilient and relentless, 00:06:20.620 --> 00:06:31.879 and at times slow and small and unseen, and they are unstoppable. Mark is telling us here the same 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:39.519 thing. Jesus is telling us in this parable that the same thing is true of God's kingdom and his word. 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:50.000 The kingdom is like a seed. It is also powerful, resilient, relentless. It is not going to give up. 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:55.779 And so that's what we see in this story. First in verse 26, this man comes and scatters the seed on the 00:06:55.779 --> 00:07:02.319 ground, but we find out that's the last thing he really has to do with it. The seed takes on a life 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:11.480 of its own. Verse 27, he sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how. 00:07:12.920 --> 00:07:18.879 Verse 28 adds on, the earth produces by itself. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:27.759 Jesus is telling us that when and as the kingdom comes, the batteries are included. 00:07:30.100 --> 00:07:37.839 It comes with its own power, its own resources. Now, I want us for a minute to return to the 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:43.000 meaning of the kingdom of God as we're talking about this. It's easy when we come to phrases like 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:49.139 the kingdom of God to give in what some people call God talk, which is a way of saying everyone says it, 00:07:49.139 --> 00:07:54.579 no one has any idea what in the world it means. So I want us to pause for a second and remind 00:07:54.579 --> 00:08:01.039 ourselves what we are talking about when we talk about the kingdom of God. First, very simply, 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:06.379 the kingdom of God is the place where Jesus is obeyed and followed as king. 00:08:06.379 --> 00:08:19.719 The kingdom of God is the place where Jesus is king. We see the kingdom in part now. We will one day see it fully, 00:08:20.719 --> 00:08:27.060 which is another way of saying not everyone in this world recognizes and serves Jesus as king. 00:08:27.060 --> 00:08:35.220 One day they will. Bible tells us that a day is coming when every knee will bow. 00:08:36.500 --> 00:08:44.419 And so right now we see the kingdom of God as it expresses itself in the hearts and the lives of God's people. 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:49.480 In fact, I'm stealing that phrase from the last sentence on page five of your worship guide. 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:55.899 I have this long quote from Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones helping us understand what the kingdom of God is. 00:08:56.379 --> 00:09:02.519 And it ends with that phrase, he is certainly ruling in that way in the hearts and lives of all his people. 00:09:03.440 --> 00:09:09.680 And so the kingdom grows when our obedience and following of Jesus as king increases. 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:14.820 The kingdom grows as more and more people recognize Jesus in that way. 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:19.120 We prayed earlier this morning that God's kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. 00:09:19.280 --> 00:09:25.500 And we see that as we here and others worship and love and obey God more and more. 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:33.780 Now I'll tell you, I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out the right way to speak about the kingdom of God, 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:35.760 the most helpful way to articulate it. 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:40.280 And I cannot commend any quote more to you than the one I have on page five. 00:09:40.280 --> 00:09:44.520 That is the best explanation of the kingdom of God that I have found. 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:50.980 So I'm not going to dive deep into all of it, but feel free to take your worship guide home with you and have that as a resource. 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:52.980 So that's what we're talking about. 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:55.120 When we're talking about the seed in the kingdom of growing, 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:59.059 we're talking about the rule of Jesus as king in this world, 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:02.960 seen now in the hearts and lives of his people. 00:10:03.980 --> 00:10:05.860 And so with that, we're going to jump right back in. 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:11.159 And remember verse 26, we're talking about the kingdom of God as a man scattering a seed. 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:14.159 And the opposite way of saying it is this. 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:20.120 It is not the skill or power of the man who scatters the seed. 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:25.559 That is not ultimately what matters. 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:32.480 In fact, here, the independent growth of the seed is juxtaposed with the lack of involvement of the sower. 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:36.240 The sower does almost nothing except throw out the seed. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:40.460 And so the point is this. 00:10:41.580 --> 00:10:46.019 The kingdom of God has its own internal power. 00:10:47.340 --> 00:10:54.500 The kingdom of God does not ultimately or fundamentally grow by human effort. 00:10:54.500 --> 00:11:02.460 It is not us who have the power, but instead God and his kingdom and his word. 00:11:03.960 --> 00:11:10.440 And so that's why over the years I've become more and more precise and careful in the language that I use. 00:11:10.539 --> 00:11:15.639 You may hear often when I pray, I pray that God would use us or others as his instruments. 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:20.879 Because instrument language recognizes where the true and ultimate power actually lies. 00:11:21.100 --> 00:11:23.740 It is not in the instrument, but in the one who uses it. 00:11:23.740 --> 00:11:29.639 And so we're recognizing as we pray those prayers that God is the one who is at work in the world. 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:38.439 Now as we think about this, in light of verses 1 through 20, the parable of the different kinds of soil, 00:11:38.539 --> 00:11:41.279 we might think that Jesus here is contradicting himself. 00:11:41.699 --> 00:11:45.500 It seemed at the beginning of chapter 4 that it was the soil that really mattered. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:48.860 Now it sounds like it's actually the seed that really matters. 00:11:50.519 --> 00:11:56.279 Now Jesus is not contradicting himself here, and he's just giving us different perspectives on the same reality. 00:11:56.279 --> 00:12:02.139 1 through 20 was meant to challenge those who receive the word, who hear it. 00:12:03.339 --> 00:12:09.019 Verses 26 through 29 are meant to encourage those who sow the word. 00:12:10.259 --> 00:12:13.679 1 through 20 is meant to challenge those who hear the word. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:19.620 26 through 29 is meant to encourage and free up those who sow the word. 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:23.959 And so it's two different perspectives on the same reality. 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:31.180 It's encouragement here for parents and grandparents and workers and teachers and friends and soldiers who show up day after day. 00:12:31.540 --> 00:12:37.639 In fact, it's encouragement for anyone who speaks to another person about God and his ways and the gospel. 00:12:39.019 --> 00:12:43.100 When we come and open up the scriptures, we want two things to happen. 00:12:43.220 --> 00:12:47.420 We want to be challenged by God's word, and we want to be encouraged by God's word. 00:12:47.700 --> 00:12:51.340 And of course, as I prayed this morning, most of all, we want to see Jesus. 00:12:51.340 --> 00:12:56.060 The last few weeks, we've had many challenges and warnings from God's word. 00:12:56.519 --> 00:13:00.980 This week, we come with great encouragement and bread for the journey. 00:13:01.680 --> 00:13:06.360 Because it reminds us that growth does not depend upon us. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:12.519 And so this is good news for all sorts of people as we work as Christians in this world. 00:13:12.780 --> 00:13:15.480 It's encouragement for parents and grandparents. 00:13:15.480 --> 00:13:25.080 And the reason I say grandparents is I know that many of you here, while technically you are grandparents, functionally you act as parents. 00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:29.820 Because of things that have or are happening in your children's lives. 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:34.879 And you want your children and your grandchildren to know and love God. 00:13:35.820 --> 00:13:40.420 And you're tempted to think that if you can just get it right, they will. 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:47.259 And there's an anxiety and a fear and a crushing burden of believing that it is up to you. 00:13:47.299 --> 00:13:51.339 Afraid of messing up, knowing you have never done enough. 00:13:52.860 --> 00:13:58.360 This passage reminds us, you are simply scattering seed. 00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:04.219 The sower, verse 27, sleeps and rises night and day. 00:14:05.379 --> 00:14:06.679 Maybe you feel like that. 00:14:06.679 --> 00:14:10.339 You get up, you make it through the day. 00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:12.199 Hopefully you get some sleep. 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:14.259 You're not sure quite what's happening. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:20.139 And the seed still grows without you. 00:14:21.859 --> 00:14:27.379 When you go to sleep at night, as a parent or a grandparent, God does not. 00:14:29.319 --> 00:14:31.559 God is still at work. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:33.719 Psalm 121 tells us this. 00:14:33.939 --> 00:14:35.919 He will not let your foot be moved. 00:14:35.919 --> 00:14:37.639 He who keeps you will not slumber. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:42.539 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:45.419 God doesn't take naps. 00:14:47.799 --> 00:14:50.899 God doesn't get up in the morning because he didn't go to bed. 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:56.000 And if God is not at work, 00:14:56.439 --> 00:14:59.519 if he wasn't at work in the past and he isn't at work now, 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.860 there is nothing you can do that will be enough. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:09.919 If God wasn't at work in the past, if he's not at work now, 00:15:10.579 --> 00:15:14.459 there is nothing that you can do that will ever be enough. 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:18.479 The decisive and determining factor is not the sower. 00:15:18.979 --> 00:15:20.399 It is the seed. 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:30.240 My parents, like all parents everywhere, imperfect and flawed. 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:36.200 And they got two fundamental, critical things right. 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:41.860 First, they stayed married, which is not a small thing. 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:47.919 Second, they took us to church every single Sunday. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:51.579 They put us in the presence of the word. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:55.419 They exposed us to the power of the word. 00:15:56.659 --> 00:16:02.419 You are actually not powerful enough to change the hearts and minds of your children and grandchildren. 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:05.699 God is. 00:16:05.700 --> 00:16:11.240 All that you can do is what you can do. 00:16:11.460 --> 00:16:12.560 You scatter the seed. 00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:14.200 Day after day. 00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:16.580 And as you sleep, it grows. 00:16:19.780 --> 00:16:21.320 Maybe you're single. 00:16:21.720 --> 00:16:23.340 You're not married now. 00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:25.680 And you don't know if you will ever be. 00:16:26.820 --> 00:16:28.680 Maybe you're married and you don't have kids. 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:35.699 And you still work day after day to see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. 00:16:35.839 --> 00:16:40.179 In classrooms, in boardrooms, on Zoom calls, with clients and trainings and at meals. 00:16:42.899 --> 00:16:47.120 And you speak words of life from the Bible to those around you. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:54.939 The promise from Isaiah chapter 55 that we read this morning, that John read for us, is still true for you. 00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:58.960 God's word will not return to him void. 00:17:01.620 --> 00:17:03.980 God's kingdom is growing and it is coming. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:11.320 God does not need you to be married or have children for his kingdom to be at work in you and through you. 00:17:12.059 --> 00:17:14.000 The seed is growing. 00:17:16.759 --> 00:17:21.700 For us in this church, as we push back as one community against the kingdom of darkness, 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:24.240 there are all kinds of challenges that we face. 00:17:24.940 --> 00:17:30.320 Our elders have had their share of sleepless nights from time to time. 00:17:31.120 --> 00:17:36.519 As we have fought various trials or spiritual battles that go on for months, at times even years. 00:17:37.500 --> 00:17:39.759 And we continue in prayer and move forward. 00:17:41.620 --> 00:17:46.320 And we're not sure if anything is happening or if it makes a difference. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:55.299 The churches I grew up in were perpetually unhealthy and dysfunctional. 00:17:57.220 --> 00:18:03.539 More churches than not that I've been in have been churches with poor teaching and even worse leadership. 00:18:04.939 --> 00:18:07.539 Multiple leaders from those churches are not in ministry anymore. 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:09.639 Some of them, I'm not sure if they were ever Christians. 00:18:09.640 --> 00:18:13.540 Those churches got many things wrong. 00:18:14.860 --> 00:18:17.780 And they got one thing right. 00:18:19.040 --> 00:18:22.900 They opened up the word of God every Sunday. 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:30.160 And God honored the preaching of his word as imperfect as it was. 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:37.840 God used that preaching here in my life to bring me to be here this morning. 00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:40.180 They scattered the seed. 00:18:40.820 --> 00:18:42.500 God was still at work. 00:18:42.779 --> 00:18:44.400 The kingdom was powerful. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:53.460 As we live as people in this wicked and crooked world, knowing what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2, 00:18:53.600 --> 00:18:56.700 that we're in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. 00:18:58.860 --> 00:19:02.140 Perhaps as we realize that, and the longer we live in this world, 00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:07.700 the more we want to repeat the cry that comes at the end of Revelation chapter 22, verse 20, 00:19:07.800 --> 00:19:08.460 where the man says, 00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:10.940 Amen, come Lord Jesus. 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:17.160 As we look around the world and we see countries that are discouraging and dark where Christians are persecuted, 00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:23.700 as we hear this week that open doors just declare that Afghanistan is the most dangerous place to be a Christian, 00:19:24.360 --> 00:19:30.299 we know no matter what, the kingdom continues to grow. 00:19:34.240 --> 00:19:38.740 Without God's power, it does not matter what you and I do. 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:46.820 Without God's power, our work is worthless and weak and futile. 00:19:49.220 --> 00:19:58.759 With God's power, our work is greater than the sum of its parts because we know that God is in it. 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:06.100 Maybe verse 27 feels like your life. 00:20:06.099 --> 00:20:14.019 You get up, you go to bed, hopefully you get a few hours of sleep, 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:20.079 you're scattering seed, you're not sure if anything is happening, 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:23.199 you can know one thing, 00:20:24.599 --> 00:20:26.639 the seed is sprouting. 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:29.959 Not because of you, 00:20:31.159 --> 00:20:32.179 because of him. 00:20:32.180 --> 00:20:38.400 Our confidence is and only is in God. 00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:40.900 Psalm 127 reminds us, 00:20:40.900 --> 00:20:42.500 Unless the Lord builds the house, 00:20:42.600 --> 00:20:44.259 those who build it labor in vain. 00:20:45.340 --> 00:20:47.500 Unless the Lord watches over the city, 00:20:47.580 --> 00:20:49.660 the watchman stays awake in vain. 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:52.420 It is in vain that you rise up early 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:53.519 and go late to rest, 00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:55.320 eating the bread of anxious toil, 00:20:56.019 --> 00:20:58.820 for he gives to his beloved sleep. 00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:04.819 In the midst of our sin and weakness and failures and imperfection, 00:21:04.939 --> 00:21:07.359 God honors the scattering of his word. 00:21:08.679 --> 00:21:12.279 God continues to grow his kingdom. 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:16.220 The seed can spring up in sewer sludge 00:21:16.220 --> 00:21:20.119 and it can survive and pass through someone's digestive system. 00:21:20.460 --> 00:21:22.879 The bottom line, brothers and sisters, is this. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:26.260 As we work and play in this world, 00:21:26.360 --> 00:21:32.440 our ultimate hope is not that we would have the right strategies and techniques, 00:21:32.760 --> 00:21:37.260 because we will always disappoint and fall short. 00:21:38.020 --> 00:21:40.340 Our ultimate hope is this, 00:21:40.740 --> 00:21:44.400 the inexhaustible power of God. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:48.600 That is what we hope in. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:52.500 We are believing that God honors his promise in Isaiah 55, 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:55.080 that his word will not return to him void. 00:21:55.259 --> 00:21:58.580 If our ultimate hope is in our skill or in our faithfulness, 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:00.480 we are doomed. 00:22:02.840 --> 00:22:06.540 The determining factor here is not the excellence or skill of the sower. 00:22:06.680 --> 00:22:08.180 It is in the power of the seed. 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:10.660 Yes, the skill of the sower matters, 00:22:10.660 --> 00:22:14.640 but, and, it is not the ultimate or determining factor. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:16.880 God is. 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:21.660 The sower doesn't really know what's going on. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:26.420 He's getting up and going to bed day after day. 00:22:28.940 --> 00:22:32.080 Your hope is not that you'll get it right, 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:34.279 because you won't. 00:22:36.620 --> 00:22:40.040 Part of legalism is believing that we're capable of engineering 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:43.539 and controlling and guaranteeing outcomes through rules and behavior. 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:48.420 And I am not saying that faithfulness doesn't matter. 00:22:50.539 --> 00:22:53.339 Our faithfulness is not our ultimate hope. 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:58.180 It is not the catalytic power at work in this world. 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:03.599 Instead, we look and hope in the power of God. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:12.740 You may not see the return for your labor for a long time. 00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:17.079 You may not ever see it on this side of heaven. 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:23.199 It may feel at times futile and pointless. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:29.840 And we believe Jesus' words that the kingdom is growing. 00:23:31.460 --> 00:23:34.420 In the midst of our failures and imperfections and sin, 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:37.880 God honors the scattering of his word. 00:23:38.299 --> 00:23:41.019 God creates the growth of his kingdom. 00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:45.220 God is at work using flawed and imperfect, sinful men and women 00:23:45.220 --> 00:23:47.319 as his instruments in this world 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:50.019 as he brings redemption to bear. 00:23:50.019 --> 00:23:54.960 Fruit grows without the help of the sower. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:24:00.380 And so, brothers and sisters, 00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:04.600 we take tremendous hope and confidence and humility from God's word. 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:06.980 We recognize that we can't always see 00:24:06.980 --> 00:24:09.980 and understand God's purposes and his plan. 00:24:10.120 --> 00:24:12.360 We don't always know what's going on. 00:24:13.299 --> 00:24:16.460 And we have faith that God does. 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:18.440 We keep moving. 00:24:19.100 --> 00:24:20.079 And we keep sowing. 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:28.179 We're told something else about the kingdom here at the very end in verse 29. 00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:32.759 I mentioned earlier that the kingdom is here in part. 00:24:33.379 --> 00:24:35.240 It is not here in full. 00:24:36.939 --> 00:24:39.099 And one day it will be. 00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:46.059 Verse 29 gives us this process, the steps, the stages of what happens. 00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:51.940 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. 00:24:53.919 --> 00:24:57.500 Yes, the growth of God's kingdom is slow and unseen, 00:24:58.019 --> 00:25:00.819 and there is an end state. 00:25:02.599 --> 00:25:04.539 Harvest time is coming. 00:25:06.139 --> 00:25:09.720 This is what the Old Testament refers to as the day of the Lord. 00:25:10.759 --> 00:25:14.299 The kingdom one day will be fully grown and completely dominant. 00:25:14.299 --> 00:25:18.879 Yes, on the one hand, it is slow, and on the other hand, it is inevitable. 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:22.299 Mark is quoting from the Old Testament. 00:25:22.579 --> 00:25:27.579 It's a direct quote of Joel 3, verse 13, which says this, 00:25:28.099 --> 00:25:30.099 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. 00:25:30.659 --> 00:25:33.379 Go in, tread, for the winepress is full. 00:25:33.899 --> 00:25:37.159 The vats overflow, for their evil is great. 00:25:37.160 --> 00:25:46.440 And so in the midst of a passage of hope, Mark and Jesus here allude to a passage about judgment. 00:25:49.080 --> 00:25:53.940 In other words, there is a limited time to recognize Jesus as king. 00:25:56.040 --> 00:25:59.880 There is a limited time to enter the kingdom. 00:25:59.880 --> 00:26:06.500 And as I've told you many times, there is no one who knows the day or the hour of his death. 00:26:08.580 --> 00:26:12.400 Now is the time to recognize Jesus as king. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:16.020 Now is the time to submit to him. 00:26:16.540 --> 00:26:19.700 Now is the time to enter the kingdom. 00:26:19.700 --> 00:26:24.840 In fact, Jesus speaks many times in the gospels, especially the gospel of Matthew, 00:26:25.180 --> 00:26:27.000 about entering into the kingdom, 00:26:27.100 --> 00:26:31.920 which is a way of talking about seeing and recognizing Jesus' rule in this world. 00:26:34.100 --> 00:26:37.740 If you have questions about that or want to learn more, 00:26:38.140 --> 00:26:41.680 I direct you, as I have before, to page 10 of our worship guide, 00:26:41.819 --> 00:26:47.960 which talks about what it means to recognize Jesus as king and follow him into his kingdom. 00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:54.579 Because the time to follow Jesus as king is now. 00:26:58.259 --> 00:27:03.019 But when the grain is ripe at once, he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. 00:27:04.840 --> 00:27:10.059 Just because the kingdom grows slowly does not mean it will come in fullness one day. 00:27:10.360 --> 00:27:11.860 No, in fact, it is. 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:13.640 The sickle will show up. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:15.120 Judgment day is coming. 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:18.739 There will be a time where we finally see the fruit of all our efforts, 00:27:18.839 --> 00:27:24.339 the way in which God used us as his instruments in this world to bring about his redemption. 00:27:25.879 --> 00:27:29.039 And we long and look forward to that time. 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:34.159 And so I urge you, 00:27:35.720 --> 00:27:42.200 matter of greatest importance for you in this world is whether Jesus is your king or not. 00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:46.639 Because the kingdom is coming in fullness. 00:27:46.899 --> 00:27:49.460 He will be the king over everyone. 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:52.119 Will you recognize him? 00:27:52.359 --> 00:27:53.180 Will you follow him? 00:27:53.240 --> 00:27:55.099 Will you worship him in time? 00:27:55.099 --> 00:27:55.159 Will you worship him in time? 00:27:56.359 --> 00:27:57.539 The time is now. 00:28:02.980 --> 00:28:11.939 In a series of articles from 2005 to 2015, National Geographic track, this palm tree named Methuselah. 00:28:12.679 --> 00:28:16.740 And the reason they named the palm tree Methuselah, you may know if you're a Bible nerd, 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:19.959 that Methuselah shows up in Genesis chapter 5. 00:28:20.059 --> 00:28:23.119 He's the oldest person recorded in the Bible. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:26.959 Now, this tree was actually not old. 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:32.079 It was planted in 2005, but the seed was. 00:28:32.879 --> 00:28:37.819 The seed was one of three seeds that were recovered by archaeologists in the 1960s 00:28:37.819 --> 00:28:42.199 from a pile of rubble at the ancient site of Masada in Judea. 00:28:43.519 --> 00:28:46.839 And Carbon Dating says these seeds were about 2,000 years old. 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:55.339 In other words, this is a seed from the time of Jesus in the place of Jesus in Judea. 00:28:56.859 --> 00:29:03.859 And Israeli researchers finally worked to germinate it and bring it to life 2,000 years after it had been stored away. 00:29:05.199 --> 00:29:08.819 One of the researchers in charge of this, her name was Elaine Solowee, said this, 00:29:08.819 --> 00:29:13.039 I assume the food and the seed would be no good after all that time. 00:29:13.679 --> 00:29:14.599 How could it be? 00:29:16.679 --> 00:29:20.859 There was a follow-up article in 2015, 10 years later. 00:29:21.539 --> 00:29:24.480 National Geographic came back to it and Elaine had changed her tune. 00:29:24.579 --> 00:29:25.299 She said this, 00:29:25.299 --> 00:29:46.480 Brothers and sisters, we also have a seed from 2,000 years ago that continues to be full of power and bear fruit in this world. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:52.079 It is the good news of the gospel that Jesus has come, as we saw in Mark 1, verses 14 and 15, 00:29:52.200 --> 00:29:54.579 that the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:57.759 It is time to repent and believe. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:05.099 The word of God is the seed that continues to bear fruit generation to generation. 00:30:06.599 --> 00:30:11.380 The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:16.039 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows. 00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:18.940 He knows not how. 00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:20.660 Let's pray. 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:32.360 Our Father in heaven, we praise you and thank you that our hope is not in ourselves, but it is in you. 00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:41.259 We thank you that your kingdom does not rise or fall on us, but it grows day and night while we rise and sleep. 00:30:41.740 --> 00:30:44.140 We ask that you would use it to encourage us, 00:30:44.140 --> 00:30:48.259 remind us of your grace in our lives, 00:30:48.259 --> 00:30:50.740 that we would love you and your kingdom, 00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:52.560 and we would follow you as king. 00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:56.080 We ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. 00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:56.640 Amen. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:30:56.800 Amen. 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:57.980 Amen. 00:30:58.619 --> 00:31:11.180 Amen. 00:31:11.220 --> 00:31:11.740 Amen. 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:11.940 Amen. 00:31:15.940 --> 00:31:15.960 Amen. 00:31:16.099 --> 00:31:16.339 Amen. 00:31:16.339 --> 00:31:17.359 Amen. 00:31:17.359 --> 00:31:18.559 Amen. 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:19.879 Amen. 00:31:19.879 --> 00:31:19.980 Amen.