The Parable of the Invincible Seed

Introduction and Prayer for Illumination

0:04 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, February 10th, 1985, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Mountville, New Jersey. Now will you turn with me in your Bibles to the fourth chapter of Mark's Gospel, the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 4. And follow, please, as I read verses 26 through 29, Mark 4, beginning with verse 26. With reference to the ministry of our Lord, Mark writes,

1:16 Then the full grain in the ear, but when the fruit is ripe, straightway he puts forth or sends forth the sickle, because the harvest is come. Unlike the parable of the sower and the soils, we do not have the record of our Lord's interpretation of this parable to the disciples. And as we are in desperate need of the help of the Spirit, even when seeking to understand the record of our Lord's inspired interpretation of a parable, such as we have with the parable of the soils and the parable of the tares, how much more do we need his help when we are left to the general principles of interpreting the word and do not have the record of our Lord's infallible interpretation to guide us. Let us then ask for that help of the Holy Spirit as we come to this foundation. Fascinating portion of the word of God this morning. Let us pray.

2:27 Our Father, we give you thanks that we have the written word of our God in our hands and that we are privileged once more in a context of civil liberty and freedom to gather publicly as we have gathered to meet around that word in the expectation that we are not left to... to the mere resources of human intellect and human deduction to understand its meaning.

3:00 But we praise you for the gift of the Holy Spirit and we pray that he may be present this morning to open the eyes of our understanding, to help your servant as he attempts to convey the fruit of his labors in prayer and study and in organizing the material. Our Father, our Father, come by the Spirit upon preacher and listener that together we may all be conscious that the Lord Jesus himself by the Spirit has come into our midst to minister to our hearts. Hear our cry as we offer it up in your presence in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. Now with the ground outside of us frozen as hard as concrete, and with any of the nearby fields blanketed with snow, I should like to bring a bit of spring into the sanctuary this morning. Now I do this not just to cheer you with the thought that because of God's ancient promise to Noah, we can indeed expect that the now frozen and snow-buried landscape will yet burst forth with life,

Context and Uniqueness of the Parable

4:24 but because our text that comes in the regular context, the course of preaching through Mark, brings us directly to a Palestinian farmland and to the conditions which under our circumstances would be described as springtime through to the time of harvest in the autumn. And so springtime and summer and autumn come into the sanctuary as it were riding upon the back of this text that is before us. Now this parable read in your hearing was in all likelihood one of the many parables which Mark refers to in chapter 4 and verse 2. He taught them many things in parables. And you remember the setting of those many parables was that in which our Lord was in a boat and the multitudes were seated upon the shore of the lake or sea of Galilee, and we have that further underscored in verses 33 and 34 of this chapter, and with many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able to hear it, and without a parable spoke he not unto them,

5:43 but privately to his own disciples he expounded all things. Now because of this subtle little change in the opening words of the paragraph, Mark is, probably indicating that this was one of the parables spoken to the multitudes, uninterpreted, unexplained before the multitudes, but subsequently explained to the disciples. For you will notice that the previous statement begins, verse 21, and he said unto them, but now in verse 26 it is simply, and he said, and again verse 30, and he, and he, and he, and he said, and many of the exegetes and commentators are careful to underscore that this subtle change of reference probably points in the direction of underscoring for us that this was one of those parables spoken to the vast mixed multitude gathered upon the shore and was left with them, uninterpreted and unexplained by our Lord. Now it's very interesting, to note that Mark alone records this parable. You do not find it in the parallel passage in Matthew 13 or in Luke chapter 8.

7:09 Now why is it that Matthew and Luke omit it and Mark alone records it? Well, frankly, I don't know. Neither do any of the commentators. All we know is that the Holy Spirit who superintended the writing of these records saw fit to bring to Mark's remembrance by whatever means he may have used this precious parable which in a very real sense forms a wonderful supplement and complement to the parable of the sower and of the soils.

Major Purpose of the Parable: Understanding the Kingdom of God

7:45 Now as we attempt to come to grips with this parable and its message, consider with me first of all this morning the major purpose of this particular parable. The major purpose of the parable. The opening words are these. And he said, So is the kingdom of God as if a man should cast seed upon the earth.

8:16 Now in these opening words, our Lord makes it clear that his main purpose in speaking this parable is to set forth the purpose of the kingdom of God. And he says, To set forth some aspect of the kingdom of God. To set forth and underscore a specific aspect of that kingdom which he himself is now establishing in his own person and in his own ministry. If you can remember way back to our expositions of chapter 1, you will remember that in verses 14 and 15 it is recorded that the approach of the kingdom in the person and ministry of the king was the great theme of this Galilean ministry. Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent you and believe in the gospel.

9:27 So in the person and ministry of the king himself, the kingdom of God has drawn near. And our Lord is concerned in this parable and in the subsequent parable as he was also in the parable of the sower and of the soils to set forth some major dimensions of the nature of that kingdom which has drawn near near. In the person of the king. That kingdom into which men and women can enter only as they repent and believe the gospel.

10:08 Now this was peculiarly necessary because those of you again who have any acquaintance with the New Testament know they had grossly distorted and pathetically carnal and earthly views of the promised kingdom of God. When the Jews of that day took up this great theme of the prophets the theme of the coming manifestation of the kingdom of Jehovah they had taken those themes and had grossly distorted them and had overlaid them with pathetically carnal and earthly views. And so our Lord is concerned at this stage in his ministry to correct many of those misconceptions and to implant proper views of the kingdom of grace and of power. For it was this kingdom that he was presently establishing in his own ministry. It was that kingdom which he purposed should be extended and expanded through the ministry of his followers after he would complete his earthly ministry. Therefore using the principle of teaching called taking the known to instruct in the unknown our Lord at this time says so is the kingdom of God

11:37 as a man who cast his seed. Now you'll notice in verses 30 and 31 our Lord was very conscious that he was seeking to use appropriate known factors in order to teach certain things and principles of that which was yet unknown and unclear. He said how shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or in what parable shall we set it forth?

12:09 How shall we take this concept of the kingdom of God concerning which your thinking is fuzzy and hazy and distorted? How shall I correct your thinking? How shall I implant proper notions of the kingdom by using this principle of teaching? Teaching from the known to the unknown.

12:32 So this is precisely what our Lord is doing and therefore the major purpose of the parable is to impart an accurate concept of certain aspects of the nature of God's reign of grace and power to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now, before leaving this heading of the main purpose of the parable, let me simply give this word of caution. No one parable was ever intended to impart a comprehensive or exhaustive doctrine of the kingdom of God. No one parable was ever intended to impart a comprehensive or an exhaustive doctrine of the kingdom of God. Rather, each parable is meant to set forth one major aspect of the spiritual principles operative in the kingdom of God. That's why in that collection of the kingdom parables in the 13th chapter of Luke, the Lord Jesus can liken the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven to many different things that have no relationship to each other viewed as individual likenesses.

14:01 For example, in Matthew 13, he can say, as we read in verse 24, another parable set he before them saying, the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field. Verse 31, he says the kingdom is like unto a grain of mustard seed. Verse 33, the kingdom of heaven is like unto yeast which is hidden in a loaf of bread. And then our Lord goes on to say in verse 44, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.

14:42 Verse 45, it's like a merchant seeking pearls. Well, you see, all of these different likenesses, in each one of them, there is generally one central aspect of the kingdom, the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God that is being highlighted. Now, I am not saying that the parable is exhausted in the one major principle, but as a safe rule of interpretation, it is generally true that there is one dominant perspective concerning the kingdom which is highlighted in the parables. Therefore, beware of any interpreter, living or dead, speaking from a pulpit on a tape or on the radio who draws all kinds of novel meanings out of all the details of the parables. It is irresponsible and fanciful exegesis and can often lead to tragic error if not to blatant heresy. The major purpose, then, of this parable is to set forth a specific principle that is operative within the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. All right?

Major Elements of the Parable: Sowing, Growth, and Harvest

16:02 Then we move into the second place to examine together the major elements of the parable.

16:10 Having considered the major purpose of the parable, now then, what are the major elements of the parable? And as I wrestled with how to organize the material, it occurred to me that the simplest way to do it was to do it in terms of the chronology that is there behind the structure of the passage. In the passage, the parable as given by our Lord, you have sowing time, growth time, and harvest time. And if we look at the passage in that way, we should be able to grasp all of the major elements in the parable.

16:49 First of all, in the parable, our Lord points to sowing time. And He does so with these words. That's not, S-E-W, for you seamstresses, but S-O-W. All right?

17:03 It is said in the parable, the kingdom of God is if a man should cast seed upon the earth. It is the picture that we have already seen from the parable of the sower and the soils. What is not explicitly mentioned is assumed that it's the proper time of year for sowing seed. That the field has been duly and properly prepared.

17:30 And now the moment of truth has come in which the farmer goes forth with his seed bag over his shoulder and he literally casts the seed upon the earth. So the emphasis here falls upon the activity of a man who is casting seed upon the earth. And that's all that is said about the sowing time. Now the bulk of the parable is taken up with verses 27 and 28 growth time.

18:04 And here under growth time we have two activities that are brought into focus. You have the activity of the farmer in growth time and then you have the activity of the seed and of the soil. Do you see that in the passage? So is the kingdom of God is if a man should cast seed upon the earth.

18:26 That's the end of sowing time. Now we come to growth time and the first thing described in the growth time is the activity of the farmer. What does he do? And he should sleep and rise night and day.

18:47 And the seed should spring up and grow. He knows not how. During growth time the farmer's activity is described in this very simple way that at the end of the last day on which he finished his sowing and perhaps he was able to accomplish all of his sowing in one day he went to bed at a normal time. That's why the word sleep comes before rising.

19:15 At the end of his time of sowing he went to bed as a weary farmer. And what did he do? Did he set an alarm clock or go out and have someone pinch a rooster to crow early in order to get up every hour on the hour and go to the place where he had sown his seed and examine it with a flashlight to see if there were any activity out in the field? Did he go out every three hours throughout the dark hours of the night to get down on his hands and knees with a candle and dig around his seed to see if there were any activity?

19:52 No, our Lord says the kingdom of God is if a man should cast seed upon the earth and then his activity was simply to carry on the normal routine of a farmer occupied with other agrarian tasks. It doesn't mean that he went on a six-month vacation and just laid around and slept and woke up and swung in a hammock throughout the day and then went back to sleep. But the emphasis that falls upon sleeping and rising night and day and for you Greek students they are present subjunctives so it's a picture of his supposed activity becoming a pattern. The emphasis is falling upon the fact that with reference to the seed that was sown he does nothing during growth time. The farmer does nothing. With reference to the seed he does nothing. Now he does other things that require rest and require that he rise at a certain hour and go forth to the tasks of the day.

21:01 But with reference to the seed that is sown our Lord is emphasizing he does nothing. He casts his seed upon the earth. He sleeps. He rises night and day.

21:12 That's his activity. But now then what about the activity of the seed during growth time? Well the text describes it in this way. And the seed should literally sprout and grow and lengthen.

21:29 The seed sprouts and then it begins to lengthen into what would look like a blade of grass. There is this notable shoot of green life. And even at this stage what has happened beneath the soil and what now begins to be visible totally transcends the ability of the farmer to comprehend. Should he during one of those days walk by his field and see the seed that has sprouted and is now lengthening into a shoot that is visible before his eye?

22:13 And were he to stop and look at that and begin to use all of his mental faculties wrestling with the question how can it be that those little seeds that I cast upon the earth have now become lengthened stalks piercing the earth? He has to confess I do not understand the power inherent in the seed that would cause it to break open and push up its emerging life through the soil and now sustain that life by the root system that has gone down into the soil. He scratches his head and if he is a man of faith he looks up in wonderment and praise and says oh God how marvelous are your ways and he is humbled because in something so elementary to life he must confess his utter ignorance of how that seed germinates and springs forth into this lengthened shoot of life. Now what is stated in general terms is more specifically delineated in verse 28. Here our Lord expands upon that growth process. The earth now it is not the earth in general but the earth that has received

23:42 that seed in which it has sprouted and has begun to lengthen the earth bears fruit or yields fruit of herself. The Greek word is the one from which we get our English word automatically. The earth yields fruit of herself first the blade in other words it looks like a long stalk of grass have you ever seen a field of wheat or of any other kind of grain what first comes up just looks like a large lawn that needs to be mowed but then after a while almost imperceptibly there begins to form at the end of that blade a swelling growth that is what is called in our text first the blade then the ear the head begins to form until ultimately in the process of time there are pulpy grains of wheat or barley or some other kind of grain surrounded by the husk ready to be harvested all of that goes on while the farmer goes about his other tasks and while he is ignorant of all the things and all of the processes by which it goes on it goes on nonetheless that's what happens during growth time so the basic elements

25:10 of the parable are set before us in terms of sowing time growth time and then in verse twenty nine reaping time but when the fruit is ripe when the farmer discerns that there is now the ripened grain the full year of grain at the end of the stalk then straightway immediately without delay whatever other projects he's had in hand that make him weary and throw his weary body into bed at night and rise to go about the task the next morning once he knows that his field of wheat his field of barley is ready for harvesting everything else is dropped immediately he sends forth the sickle the word there means literally to send forth and probably points to the fact that he hires his reapers to accomplish the task it's so critical that this grain be harvested immediately that he's not able to handle the task himself and damage could come to the harvest if it is allowed to wait too long in the field and so he sends forth probably by delegation he sends forth the sickle because the harvest is over the harvest is over the harvest is over the harvest is over is come is come well there you have it sowing time growth time reaping time those are the major elements in the parable

Message Dimension 1: Origin and Means of Kingdom Establishment

26:39 I've just sought to be honest with the words of the text now Jesus said going back to verse 26 so is the kingdom of God as if in other words in what our Lord has told us in this simple little story involving sowing time growth time growth time and reaping time there is set before us a major lesson concerning the nature of the kingdom of God some major principle relative to its constitution to its expansion its inner workings and precisely what was our Lord emphasizing in this parable well having considered with you the major concern of the parable to teach us something about the kingdom of God the major elements in the parable now we come in the third place to what is the heart of our study today the major message of the parable the major message of the parable if the kingdom is like unto a man sowing his seed and all of the factors underscored by our Lord what is the message about the kingdom we are to understand well let me suggest that that message

28:08 comes to us as it were with at least three or four dimensions three or four facets and it is this that I would seek to impress upon your understanding and then by application upon your consciences first of all this parable vividly underscores the origin and the origin of God and the origin of God and the origin of God and the origin of God and the origin of God and the origin of God and the means by which the kingdom of God is established from its inception to its consummation this parable vividly underscores the origin and the means by which the kingdom of God is established from its inception to its consummation now what do we read in the text so is the kingdom of God as if and what would we expect to find when we think of a kingdom a kingdom that will stand against all other kingdoms a kingdom that will outlast all other kingdoms a kingdom that will expand and spread until it covers the earth what would we expect to read by way of likeness well I think we would not be shocked if we were to read something like this so is the kingdom

29:35 of God as if a king should gather all his lords and nobles about him and should plan a mighty conquest to expand and extend his kingdom we'd read that and say that makes sense I can relate to that or if we were to read something like this so is the kingdom of God as if a brilliant man were to gather all of his wise men and counselors and counselors and his best think tank about him and plot the expansion but that isn't what it says it says so is the kingdom of God as if a man should throw seed upon the earth so is the kingdom of God as if a man should throw seed upon the earth what does that teach us it teaches us that this seed which is obviously nothing different from the seed of the parable of the sower and the soils identified in chapter 4 and verse 14 as the word of God the sower soweth the word what our Lord is saying is that the simple faithful

31:03 tireless dissemination of the word of God is the means ordained of God for the people of God for the establishment growth and extension of his kingdom until the time of harvest or the consummation now when Jesus was on earth was he establishing his kingdom we read in Mark chapter 1 from that time forward he began saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand repent and believe the gospel he was the great man the great man the seed upon the earth and though he validated his unique claims by his miracles he said if I by the spirit of God cast out demons then has the kingdom of God come upon you or among you but it was not within the power of establishing the kingdom in men's hearts it validated that the king was near he came with his credentials in his miracles yes but the old who entered the kingdom even under the ministry of the living Christ were those

32:29 open to behold the message of repent and believe in the gospel the king himself began the establishment of his kingdom by what means by casting seed upon the earth he went through all the cities and villages the gospel of the kingdom and what kind of directions did he give to his followers he said when I go what are you to do ye shall receive power the Holy Ghost coming upon you you shall be unto me then opened he their mind to understand the scriptures thus it was necessary that the Christ should suffer should be raised from the dead the third day and that repentance unto remission of sins should be in his name among all nations beginning from Jerusalem and you will be you and you will be you will be our witnesses of these things Luke 24 45 to 47 and when we open up the book of the Acts of the Apostles we see that kingdom extending beyond Palestine and out to the farthest reaches of the borders of the Gentile world and then into the Gentile world

33:58 and as that kingdom grows and expands beginning from that blade in Jerusalem and then into the and then into the Until we begin to see it developing into a lush, ripe, potentially fruitful plant. What is the great means for its extension? Not the coming together of the great lords to promote the kingdom. Not the coming together of the great lords.

34:35 They wish the kingdom, and according to this parable, from its inception to its consummation, that which is attended is an intrusion upon the wisdom and the will of the king himself.

35:12 Dear brothers and sisters, if we understand this, we shall not merely tolerate a structure of church life in which there is the primacy of preaching. We shall, if we value our souls, individually defund to death the primacy of preaching. The primacy of preaching. The primacy of preaching for ourselves and for our children.

35:43 Because the kingdom of God will not advance any further. The primacy of preaching is maintained in any given expression of the kingdom of God. Furthermore, if we understand this, we will zealously seek to spread the word ourselves. By every means at our disposal, we may not be called upon, formally to expound and apply and exhort in the sanctuary of God's people.

36:18 We may not be called upon formally to teach, but surely the word of God teaches that we can, by every means suitable to our gifts and station in life, seek to communicate that message by a book, by a tract, by a word of witness, to neighbors and friends and work associates. Why? For if they are ever to enter the kingdom of God, it will be because some seed has been cast upon the earth of their hearts.

36:49 If we understand this principle, we shall continue not as a matter of form, but as a matter of conviction to treasure, to guard and to promote the unique ministry of the academy that operates within the framework of our church. For what is the greatest blessing we can give to this generation? Is it not good sowers? Sowers of the word?

37:14 Is it not clever think-tank theologians who sit around and write learned books for other right reviews for one another in learners of how loving church and under the special molding influence of men who themselves let seed go forth?

38:09 That's right. I can remember when on the threshold of my manhood, a woman who was a graduate of Vassar with a beautiful, brilliant mind stood and looked me straight in the eye, and said, Albert, what a waste. What a waste that you're giving your life and your potential to so mean as the ministry. She said, looking me straight in the eye, standing three feet away, what a waste.

38:49 And that's what people will say.

38:52 What a waste. Think of some of the men who've already gone from us. Men who, humanly speaking, have the ability to make it high up in the echelon in the business, world before they're 40.

39:06 They've got the stuff to do it, and they are stuck away with a little group of 20 to 30 people pouring out their life's energy and the time of life to do what? To learn how to throw seed upon the earth, and then to burn themselves out in throwing seed upon the earth. Why do they do it? They've caught the vision of this parable.

39:30 So is the kingdom of God like unto a man who casts seed upon the earth. The great message of this parable is surely that it vividly underscores the origin and means by which the kingdom of God is established from its inception to its consummation. But I must hasten on. There is a second dimension to the message of the parable.

Message Dimension 2: Certain Growth and Development of the Kingdom

39:55 It graphically depicts the certain growth and development of the kingdom until the consummation. It graphically depicts the certain growth and development of the kingdom until the consummation. Notice again what the text says. The kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed upon the earth.

40:28 Now what happens? There's no indication in this parable that after the seed begins to sprout, that a drought comes and destroys the crop. Now, that happens. It happens in the real world of agrarian effort.

40:45 But nothing is mentioned in the parable about any destruction of the seed through a natural calamity, a hailstorm that would annihilate the crop, a drought that would consume it. But what we have in the parable is this beautiful statement of the certain relationship from the initial sowing to the casting forth of the sickle. Do you see that in the parable? The kingdom of God is as if, a man should cast seed upon the earth, verse 29, when, not if, but when the fruit is ripe, straightway he sends forth the sickle, because the harvest is come.

41:30 Now you see, our Lord wanted his own people to understand, not only that the preaching of the word was the grand instrument for the establishment and the extension of his kingdom, but he wanted to fill them with this that I almost entitled, a parable of abounding hope and confidence. You see the emphasis in the parable of the sower was upon this principle, that the state of the heart determined the fate of the seed. Remember? And in many ways, the study of that parable was discouraging from the standpoint of the farmer, because he realizes that some of that precious seed that he parts with weeping, for it was the fruit, of the labors of the year before, will be plucked away by the fowls of the air. And some will germinate, but only die under the rays of the burning Palestinian sun. And others will be choked by the weeds, and only some will find good soil. But in this parable, what our Lord emphasizes is not that the state of the soil determines the fate of the seed, but the inherent life power of the seed determines its own fate.

42:41 You see, that the inherent life of the seed determines its own fate. He casts seed upon the earth. Now he goes and leaves the whole project. No record of weeding, cultivating, irrigating.

42:57 He goes about his other tasks. And what happens? The seed springs up and grows. The earth bears fruit of herself.

43:07 First the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when, when, when, when, when the fruit is ripe, harvest is come, send forth the sickle. What a word of consolation. Is it not in parable form, but a statement of the same truth of Matthew 16?

43:34 I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail again. I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail again. I will build my church, others' sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. Those sheep, he says, shall hear my voice.

44:02 There shall be one fold, one Shepherd, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And as I was meditating on a passage that invariably comes to me, comes to mind when studying this parable, 1 Corinthians 3, where Paul says, One sows, another waters, but it's God who gives the increase. Almost every time I've used that passage, it has been to underscore what Paul is primarily emphasizing in the passage. It's not Paul or Apollos or Cephas sowing and watering who give the increase.

44:39 It's God who gives the increase. But as I was meditating upon the passage in connection with this morning's message, I said, no, I'm not going to underscore the word God, but the word giveth. God giveth!

44:56 There is no uncertainty. God increase. For the kingdom of God, as it is, is that the man should cast seed upon the earth. And then a parable unfolds in which there is a direct line from the casting of the seed to the glorious harvest.

45:15 And I say, This graphically depicts the certain growth and development of the kingdom until its consummation. Well, you say, Pastor, what bearing does that have upon me and upon us? Well, it has all kinds of bearings. We are not on a fool's errand, dear people.

45:35 When you gather in this place to cry to God, Lord, and forth laborers into your harvest. Raise up men, as we sang this morning. Throughout. Throughout the land.

45:48 Raise up men whose eyes have seen the King. Men in whose heart the voice of Christ rings. Send them out to gather. We're not about a fool's errand.

45:59 When we plead for these specific gospel causes that are, as it were, varying dimensions of the kingdom of God manifested and growing in our day. Dear people, we're not wasting time. We're not wasting breath. We're not speaking into the air.

46:18 And when we give sacrificially of time and money to advance the gospel causes here in our own assembly and with our missionaries home and abroad and other causes, we're not involved in an exercise of futility.

46:35 If I thought for one moment I were, I'd at least go into some form of the construction trade where I could build something that I could point to and say, that's the fruit of my labors and that will at least stand until an earthquake came or if I have something to show for my labors.

46:53 Thank God those of us engaged in this work of casting seed upon the earth can labor in the confidence our labor is not in vain. We're not on a fool's errand. We don't need to go out every hour on the hour with a flashlight and examine the seed to see how it's doing. God will make sure that it does its work.

Message Dimension 3: Mysteries of Grace in Kingdom Establishment

47:17 Here is a graphic depiction of the surge and growth and development of the kingdom. It's consummation. But then there's a third facet of the message of the parable, and it's this. It beautifully illustrates the mysteries of the operations of grace in the establishment of the kingdom.

47:39 It beautifully illustrates the mysteries of the operations of grace in the establishment of the kingdom. Look at the text. We are told that the farmer who has cast his seed upon the earth, goes to his bed, rises, goes about his normal tasks, the seed sprouts and lengthens. And notice what our Lord emphasizes.

48:07 He knows not how. Bless God, the extent of the farmer's knowledge did not determine the extent of the growth of the seed. Otherwise, he'd had pretty small pickings at harvest time. It was not.

48:25 It was not the extent of the farmer's knowledge that determined.

48:33 It was the inheritance he departed and nurtured by that determined the growth of the seed. That's what's true in nature, and it's true in grace. Why does a seed do what it does? Because God made it that way and has embedded in that seed, as it were, latent life, power, and then, by an active providence, and never forget it, by an active providence, He actually makes it germinate and makes it grow.

49:06 We are not deists who say God simply locked up certain principles of operation and then left the world. No, the psalmist tells us, He causes it. So every seed that germinates is a manifestation of God's present, active, providential care over that which He has made. And the farmer doesn't know how, but it happens.

49:37 You see, when the farmer has cast his seed, upon the earth, if he's got any sense, he has to stand there and say three simple things. I'm impotent to make that seed grow. What can I do to make it grow?

49:52 Is there any chant I can make over it? Is there any dance I can do around it? Is there any song I can sing to it? How about if I shout encouragements into its little ear?

50:04 Now, little seed, grow, grow, grow. Oh, come on, grow, grow, grow. What would you think of your mommy or daddy if you found them? Out in the garden, talking to seeds.

50:13 Hmm? You'd get on the phone and call one of your pastors and say, I think mommy and daddy's gone a little bit, something wrong with them. No, he has to stand by his seed and say, I'm impotent to make it grow. Then he's got to say a second thing.

50:29 I'm ignorant of how it grows.

50:32 And yet he better say a third thing. I'm expectant that it shall grow.

50:39 You get the message? It beautifully illustrates the mysteries of the operation. Generations of grace in the establishment of the kingdom of God. The seed of the word of God is sown.

50:50 The truth goes out about God and man and sin and grace and Christ and the cross and repentance and faith and the gift of the Spirit. You destroy your seed upon the earth. How do those words coming upon the chamber of the outer ear and registering upon the mind, precisely how do they become the very instruments in the hands? Not of general providence, but of special grace to do what God says will happen.

51:21 Spiritual eyes will be opened. The heart of stone will be excised. The heart of flesh will be implanted. The Holy Ghost will be imparted.

51:32 The law of God will be inscribed. How do you explain all of that? Thank God we don't need to. The wind blows where it wills.

51:42 You hear the sound thereof. But you don't know where it comes from. And where it goes, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit. What a wonderful thing it is to believe with all of our hearts those three simple things that constitute, as it were, the mysteries of how the kingdom grows.

52:03 We stand before the seed we've thrown out upon the earth and say we're impotent to make it grow. You see, and I speak especially to you men who covet the office of the ministerial, this is the great contradiction in preaching. The great contradiction. You labor with all of your powers to teach and preach the word of God simply, plainly, passionately, earnestly, and yet you know all the while you do it, I'm utterly impotent to make that seed grow at all in the hearts of you.

52:41 I may as well be speaking in Urdu or Hindustani or Bengali or something else. I'm utterly impotent. I'm utterly impotent. I'm utterly impotent.

52:49 I'm utterly impotent to make it grow. And furthermore, after I've gone through all of my courses in systematics, I'm convinced all the more how utterly ignorant I am of how it grows.

53:03 But if you're a man of God, you'll say with the farmer, in spite of all that, I'm expectant that it shall grow. Why? Because this is the way the kingdom of God operates by orders of the king.

53:15 By orders of the king, he has ordained that his word shall become the instrument of men's conversion. The grand instrument of the edification of his people. Sanctify them through the truth. Thy word is truth.

53:30 And how the preached word touches the deepest springs of affections and perspective and alters relationships and attitudes, I do not know. But it is so. And I, as a servant of God, am to preach and labor in the confident expectation that it shall grow. And then finally, the fourth facet of the message of this parable is this.

Message Dimension 4: Indication of Kingdom Candidacy

53:57 It clearly points to the most significant indication that someone may be a candidate for the kingdom of God. It clearly points to the most significant indication that someone may be a candidate for the kingdom of God. Now, what's the surest indication that someone may well be a candidate to enter the kingdom? Is it when they have a nice, upright, moral life?

54:27 Not necessarily. Sometimes they are farthest from the kingdom.

54:33 Is it when someone shows some fleeting, passing interest in religion? No. The surest indication that someone may be near or has already pressed into the kingdom is when they start to take the word of God seriously. The seed is the word.

54:53 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, casting seed upon the earth. It sprouts. It lengthens. And then develops into the full-blown fruit unto the harvest.

55:08 And my dear friend sitting here this morning, if you're not a Christian, listen to me. Listen to me. You'll never become a Christian until you start to take seriously what's in this book. What it says about God.

55:22 And get rid of all your silly notions about who you think God is. And what you'd like God to be. God is not what you think Him to be or what you'd like Him to be. He is what He is.

55:34 And it is with the God who He is that you will have to deal in the day of judgment.

55:40 If you're ever to enter the kingdom, you're going to start taking seriously that God is your creator, God is your lawgiver, and God is your judge. You're going to take seriously what the Bible says about you. That you're not a little independent, self-sustaining creature answerable to no one and to nothing. You're God's creature.

55:59 Answerable to God, your creator, in terms of His fixed moral law. And furthermore, this book says you've broken that law in thought, in word, in being. This book says that you fell in your first parent, your first father, Adam. And you, with all of us, stand in a place of condemnation.

56:18 It says the state of your heart and nature is such that apart from a direct divine intervention called in the Bible the new birth, you will never see, let alone enter, the kingdom of heaven. Have you ever taken those things seriously? Have you even begun to take them seriously? If not, don't entertain any silly notions that you're somehow in the borderlands of the kingdom of God.

56:41 My friend, you're in the kingdom of darkness and you'll remain there as long as you live indifferent to what this book says about God, about you, about Jesus Christ, who He is, what He's done for sinners. The only way to lay hold of what He's done for sinners, the way of faith, the way of penitent faith in which I turn from the sins that dishonor God, my Creator, and slew Christ, my Savior, and cast myself solely upon Him who died in the room instead of sinners. My friend, listen. This parable points to the surest, the clearest indication that you may be near the kingdom.

57:22 And that is when you begin to take the message seriously. For the kingdom of God is as if a man was a man. is as if a man was a man. is as if a man was a man.

57:28 is as if a man was a man. The man cast seed upon the earth and while he slept, the seed grew. You see, it's what happens when the service is over and the preacher's not in the pulpit and you're not in the pew. Is that word following you back to your car, back to your home, back to your table, into your bedroom, into the bench, into the shop, behind the sink?

57:50 Oh, my friend, don't resent it when the word of God begins to track you down at every turn. That's a wonderful sign that you may be on the borderlands of the kingdom.

Conclusion and Final Prayer

58:08 There may be much more in the parable, but I'm convinced at least that much is there. And I believe with all of my heart that none of it is fanciful, far-fetched, but lies on the surface of the passage and I believe I've convinced your own judgment that surely that's its message. If it is, I close with the words of our Lord, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying, even through this parable of the invincible seed, the seed that grows of itself until the harvest. Let us pray.

59:00 Our Father, what joy and thankfulness is in our hearts for the great truths bound up in this simple parable of our Lord. We worship you and praise you for its prophetic certainty that longed, before any of us were even conceived in our mother's wombs, our Lord Jesus Christ saw us as part of that great harvest that would be reaped. And we thank you that in time we were conceived and protected in the womb and brought forth to the light of day and in time brought in touch with the Word and born of the Spirit and brought into the kingdom. Oh, how we rejoice this morning for that prophetic certainty which has terminated even upon the likes of us. And oh, we plead that we may see that kingdom growing and expanding in our day by the casting of seed upon the earth. Oh, may we as a people never be tempted even for a millisecond to turn aside to showmanship and movies and entertainment and musical groups and drama and all the other rubbish that clutters the professing church.

60:25 Oh, God, may the primacy and the purity of preaching be maintained in this building until it goes up in the fires of the final conflagration when our Lord Jesus comes again. And oh, we pray that we as a people will be filled with abundant expectation and hope and confidence that though we confess we cannot make the seed grow, we know not how it grows, yet we fully expect that it shall grow and that we shall in due season reap if we faint not. Oh, God, what hope is held out to us this morning. We lay hold of it and rejoice before you. Have mercy now upon those who perhaps have found themselves described in the final application. Oh, Lord, may they not kick against the goads, but may they seek you and may they lay hold of your truth and your promises and come to the knowledge of your beloved Son. Seal then this word to our hearts and may it bear fruit unto everlasting life.

61:38 May the benediction and blessing of your grace and power rest upon us as we leave this place and seek further to sanctify this day to your glory. For praise unto our prophet. Amen.