WEBVTT 00:00:01.716 --> 00:00:05.673 Well, Paul says in Philippians 2, 00:00:05.673 --> 00:00:09.321 "work out your salvation 00:00:09.321 --> 00:00:12.762 with fear and trembling. 00:00:12.762 --> 00:00:15.881 For it is God who works in you, 00:00:15.881 --> 00:00:19.065 both to will and to work (or to do) 00:00:19.065 --> 00:00:21.795 of His good pleasure." 00:00:21.795 --> 00:00:24.147 And so, on the one hand, he says to us 00:00:24.147 --> 00:00:27.063 work out our salvation. 00:00:27.063 --> 00:00:28.445 On the other hand, he says 00:00:28.445 --> 00:00:30.662 God is working in you 00:00:30.662 --> 00:00:33.042 to cause you to want to do what's right 00:00:33.042 --> 00:00:36.949 and to enable you to do what's right. 00:00:36.949 --> 00:00:40.322 So which is it? 00:00:40.322 --> 00:00:42.296 Is it man's responsibility 00:00:42.296 --> 00:00:45.506 or is it God working in us? 00:00:45.506 --> 00:00:47.705 And it's both, isn't it? 00:00:47.705 --> 00:00:49.626 And it's not like a yoke of oxen 00:00:49.626 --> 00:00:50.783 where you do your part 00:00:50.783 --> 00:00:54.060 and God does His part like this. 00:00:54.060 --> 00:00:56.467 But it's more like two cups 00:00:56.467 --> 00:00:59.364 that one fits inside the other one. 00:00:59.364 --> 00:01:02.437 And God is the one moving everything forward, 00:01:02.437 --> 00:01:07.260 but He does it through our willing and doing 00:01:07.260 --> 00:01:10.845 what He's worked in us to will and do. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:10.845 --> 00:01:12.242 So we've heard this morning, 00:01:12.242 --> 00:01:15.304 a little bit of exhortation 00:01:15.304 --> 00:01:19.466 about the necessity for us 00:01:19.466 --> 00:01:22.741 to work out our salvation. 00:01:22.741 --> 00:01:25.881 And beloved, if you don't spend time in the Word, 00:01:25.881 --> 00:01:27.833 and you don't spend time in prayer, 00:01:27.833 --> 00:01:30.141 and you don't spend time with the people of God, 00:01:30.141 --> 00:01:32.469 you're not going to make it. 00:01:32.469 --> 00:01:33.641 But on the other hand, 00:01:33.641 --> 00:01:36.976 God is the one that works in us 00:01:36.976 --> 00:01:39.667 to cause us to want to open that Bible 00:01:39.667 --> 00:01:43.015 and to actually get it open. 00:01:43.015 --> 00:01:46.151 And so we're going to get both barrels today, I trust. 00:01:46.151 --> 00:01:49.503 The first one: those exhortations 00:01:49.503 --> 00:01:51.687 of our responsibility. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:51.687 --> 00:01:54.127 But what we're going to look at this morning 00:01:54.127 --> 00:01:55.825 is a parable of the Lord Jesus 00:01:55.825 --> 00:01:58.374 where He emphasizes what's going on 00:01:58.374 --> 00:02:00.710 behind the scenes. 00:02:00.710 --> 00:02:12.602 And so let's turn to Mark 4. 00:02:12.602 --> 00:02:18.706 And we'll read four verses. 00:02:18.706 --> 00:02:23.596 Mark 4:26 00:02:23.596 --> 00:02:26.627 "And He was saying, 00:02:26.627 --> 00:02:30.993 'The Kingdom of God is like 00:02:30.993 --> 00:02:34.526 a man who casts seed upon the ground.'" 00:02:34.526 --> 00:02:36.596 Now, He's going to tell us something; 00:02:36.596 --> 00:02:39.928 a fact about spiritual reality 00:02:39.928 --> 00:02:42.739 of what the kingdom is like. 00:02:42.739 --> 00:02:44.803 "'The kingdom of God is like a man 00:02:44.803 --> 00:02:47.680 who casts seed upon the ground, 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:49.410 and goes to bed at night 00:02:49.410 --> 00:02:51.237 and gets up by day and the seed 00:02:51.237 --> 00:02:54.089 sprouts up and grows. 00:02:54.089 --> 00:02:57.856 How he himself does not know. 00:02:57.856 --> 00:03:01.354 The earth produces crops by itself. 00:03:01.354 --> 00:03:05.125 First the blade, then the head, 00:03:05.125 --> 00:03:08.848 then the mature grain in the head. 00:03:08.848 --> 00:03:10.572 But when the crop permits, 00:03:10.572 --> 00:03:13.226 he immediately puts in the sickle 00:03:13.226 --> 00:03:17.249 because the harvest has come.'" NOTE Paragraph 00:03:17.249 --> 00:03:20.679 If you're a Christian here this morning, 00:03:20.679 --> 00:03:21.998 you already realize 00:03:21.998 --> 00:03:24.055 that the greatest Teacher who ever lived 00:03:24.055 --> 00:03:27.548 was the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:03:27.548 --> 00:03:32.404 His emphasis was never lopsided. 00:03:32.404 --> 00:03:35.732 He never had a bump on the tire. 00:03:35.732 --> 00:03:37.196 Everything that He said - 00:03:37.196 --> 00:03:38.882 His manner, His methods 00:03:38.882 --> 00:03:41.464 were always perfect. 00:03:41.464 --> 00:03:44.618 It says in John 3 that He whom God has sent 00:03:44.618 --> 00:03:47.876 speaks the very words of God, 00:03:47.876 --> 00:03:51.712 for He gives the Spirit without measure unto Him. 00:03:51.712 --> 00:03:54.674 So everything: perfect. 00:03:54.674 --> 00:03:56.385 Every response. 00:03:56.385 --> 00:03:59.708 Every emphasis. 00:03:59.708 --> 00:04:02.037 Every manner. Every method. 00:04:02.037 --> 00:04:03.792 And one of His favorite methods 00:04:03.792 --> 00:04:06.743 was the parable. 00:04:06.743 --> 00:04:08.400 There's a special beauty 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:10.216 and special wonder 00:04:10.216 --> 00:04:13.684 about these parables, isn't there? 00:04:13.684 --> 00:04:17.202 They're so earthy. 00:04:17.202 --> 00:04:21.273 I mean, seeds and farmers and what-have-you. 00:04:21.273 --> 00:04:23.450 And they're so heavenly. 00:04:23.450 --> 00:04:25.419 In four verses, the Lord Jesus 00:04:25.419 --> 00:04:28.870 can say more than all the wise men 00:04:28.870 --> 00:04:31.281 of the ages. 00:04:31.281 --> 00:04:36.170 And He often opened His mouth in parables. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:39.968 We read here a little later in v. 33-34, 00:04:39.968 --> 00:04:41.880 "with many such parables, He was 00:04:41.880 --> 00:04:43.818 speaking the Word to them as they were 00:04:43.818 --> 00:04:45.750 able to hear it. 00:04:45.750 --> 00:04:47.277 And He was not speaking to them 00:04:47.277 --> 00:04:49.967 without parables. 00:04:49.967 --> 00:04:52.805 He was explaining everything privately 00:04:52.805 --> 00:04:55.145 to His own disciples." 00:04:55.145 --> 00:04:57.766 And in Matthew, we're told 00:04:57.766 --> 00:05:00.671 that one of the psalms alluded to this 00:05:00.671 --> 00:05:02.154 about the Messiah. 00:05:02.154 --> 00:05:06.218 It says, "I will open my mouth in parables. 00:05:06.218 --> 00:05:11.073 I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world." 00:05:11.073 --> 00:05:13.381 And so the Lord Jesus Christ 00:05:13.381 --> 00:05:16.319 was speaking in these parables 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:18.593 things that nobody had ever heard; 00:05:18.593 --> 00:05:20.052 that had never been said 00:05:20.052 --> 00:05:21.715 since the foundation of the world. 00:05:21.715 --> 00:05:24.471 He said, "blessed are your ears," 00:05:24.471 --> 00:05:28.264 to hear such words as we've just read, 00:05:28.264 --> 00:05:31.775 because many prophets and righteous men - 00:05:31.775 --> 00:05:34.889 even kings - desired to hear the things 00:05:34.889 --> 00:05:36.087 that you hear. 00:05:36.087 --> 00:05:38.309 They didn't get to hear them. 00:05:38.309 --> 00:05:40.405 What a privilege we have 00:05:40.405 --> 00:05:43.439 to be able to even study this parable. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:44.856 He's telling us some things 00:05:44.856 --> 00:05:47.173 about the nature of the kingdom. 00:05:47.173 --> 00:05:49.638 Very different than the ideas 00:05:49.638 --> 00:05:51.876 that the Jews had at that time 00:05:51.876 --> 00:05:54.619 about the nature of the kingdom. 00:05:54.619 --> 00:05:58.456 And many of those parables are of that sort. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:58.456 --> 00:06:03.595 But today, we want to look at this parable in Mark 4. 00:06:03.595 --> 00:06:06.655 And what a wonderful parable it is, 00:06:06.655 --> 00:06:08.249 and how thankful we should be 00:06:08.249 --> 00:06:11.081 for the truth that it contains. 00:06:11.081 --> 00:06:13.327 Before we begin, 00:06:13.327 --> 00:06:15.002 I just want to remind you again 00:06:15.002 --> 00:06:17.627 that these parables are 00:06:17.627 --> 00:06:21.986 speaking truth about invisible reality. 00:06:21.986 --> 00:06:23.888 They're telling us something about 00:06:23.888 --> 00:06:27.007 the nature of things in the kingdom. 00:06:27.007 --> 00:06:28.535 And so the Lord Jesus said, 00:06:28.535 --> 00:06:30.943 now there's a realm here that you can't see; 00:06:30.943 --> 00:06:33.220 that you can't understand. 00:06:33.220 --> 00:06:35.478 But I want to tell you something about it. 00:06:35.478 --> 00:06:36.706 This is what it's like - 00:06:36.706 --> 00:06:39.719 the kingdom of God is like this. 00:06:39.719 --> 00:06:43.272 It's like a man who casts seed on the ground, 00:06:43.272 --> 00:06:44.601 and goes to bed at night 00:06:44.601 --> 00:06:47.128 and gets up by day. 00:06:47.128 --> 00:06:48.672 Out of all the Gospels, 00:06:48.672 --> 00:06:50.152 only found here in Mark. 00:06:50.152 --> 00:06:51.688 It's kind of a buried treasure 00:06:51.688 --> 00:06:53.692 you come upon; you stumble upon it 00:06:53.692 --> 00:06:56.082 in the field as you're going through 00:06:56.082 --> 00:06:58.858 the Gospel of Mark. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:58.858 --> 00:07:00.838 So the first question we should ask is 00:07:00.838 --> 00:07:03.492 what is the theme or overall subject 00:07:03.492 --> 00:07:05.927 of this parable? 00:07:05.927 --> 00:07:07.756 Before we get to the details, 00:07:07.756 --> 00:07:09.806 you say what's He talking about here? 00:07:09.806 --> 00:07:11.132 And I think the answer is 00:07:11.132 --> 00:07:13.614 He's talking about growth. 00:07:13.614 --> 00:07:15.772 V. 27 "He goes to bed at night, 00:07:15.772 --> 00:07:20.858 gets up by day, the seed sprouts up and grows." 00:07:20.858 --> 00:07:24.451 V. 28 "The earth produces crops by itself. 00:07:24.451 --> 00:07:27.050 First the blade, then the head, 00:07:27.050 --> 00:07:29.673 then the mature grain in the head." 00:07:29.673 --> 00:07:32.351 So we know right off, 00:07:32.351 --> 00:07:34.129 the Lord is unfolding to us 00:07:34.129 --> 00:07:36.882 some of the mysteries about growth 00:07:36.882 --> 00:07:40.595 in the kingdom; 00:07:40.595 --> 00:07:42.536 growth of the kingdom of God as a whole 00:07:42.536 --> 00:07:44.927 down through church history. 00:07:44.927 --> 00:07:47.755 He said this is the way it's going to be. 00:07:47.755 --> 00:07:50.365 And growth in our individual lives 00:07:50.365 --> 00:07:54.693 and in the lives of other Christians. 00:07:54.693 --> 00:07:56.011 This is the reality. 00:07:56.011 --> 00:08:00.372 He says this is the way it happens. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:00.372 --> 00:08:02.453 So, with that in mind, 00:08:02.453 --> 00:08:03.789 let's look at the details. 00:08:03.789 --> 00:08:07.192 First of all, v. 26, He was saying, 00:08:07.192 --> 00:08:09.067 "the kingdom of God is like a man 00:08:09.067 --> 00:08:11.271 who casts seed upon the ground." 00:08:11.271 --> 00:08:14.877 So the first thing is the prerequisite of growth, 00:08:14.877 --> 00:08:16.907 which is planting. 00:08:16.907 --> 00:08:19.278 You can't have a crop; 00:08:19.278 --> 00:08:22.518 you can't have growth without planting. 00:08:22.518 --> 00:08:24.966 And that is a big emphasis, you remember, 00:08:24.966 --> 00:08:27.034 in the parables. 00:08:27.034 --> 00:08:30.160 It comes up again and again. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:35.553 You have a man, a sower, sowing seed. 00:08:35.553 --> 00:08:37.786 And you have that picture; that illustration 00:08:37.786 --> 00:08:41.215 where the seed is the Word of God. 00:08:41.215 --> 00:08:43.460 And then you have this man who 00:08:43.460 --> 00:08:46.639 plants good seed in the field. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:48.936 And these plants come up. 00:08:48.936 --> 00:08:51.318 It has to do with God Himself planting. 00:08:51.318 --> 00:08:53.880 Ultimately, the man is God. 00:08:53.880 --> 00:08:58.561 He represents God. 00:08:58.561 --> 00:09:02.160 And God is the one that plants 00:09:02.160 --> 00:09:05.198 the seed in the ground of the Christian. 00:09:05.198 --> 00:09:06.845 You remember what Jesus said? 00:09:06.845 --> 00:09:08.862 Every plant that My Heavenly Father 00:09:08.862 --> 00:09:11.485 has not planted shall be rooted up. 00:09:11.485 --> 00:09:13.318 Isn't this a wonderful thing to think 00:09:13.318 --> 00:09:15.951 that God is in the business 00:09:15.951 --> 00:09:20.341 of planting good seed that springs up 00:09:20.341 --> 00:09:26.780 and becomes a wheat harvest? 00:09:26.780 --> 00:09:29.184 God does that. 00:09:29.184 --> 00:09:32.049 So the seeds are men sown by God; 00:09:32.049 --> 00:09:33.562 converts. 00:09:33.562 --> 00:09:35.641 But then if you go back a little further, 00:09:35.641 --> 00:09:39.215 Jesus uses this matter of the seed 00:09:39.215 --> 00:09:41.453 being the Word of God. 00:09:41.453 --> 00:09:43.021 And you have that aspect of it 00:09:43.021 --> 00:09:44.681 which has to do with, of course, 00:09:44.681 --> 00:09:46.824 this is the way God does save people. 00:09:46.824 --> 00:09:49.147 He plants people and saves people 00:09:49.147 --> 00:09:51.339 through us sowing the seed 00:09:51.339 --> 00:09:53.292 of the Word of God. 00:09:53.292 --> 00:09:54.945 And so both of these, I think, 00:09:54.945 --> 00:09:56.727 are involved here when He talks about 00:09:56.727 --> 00:09:58.990 growth in the kingdom. 00:09:58.990 --> 00:10:02.555 Remember, Paul in 1 Corinthians 3 says, 00:10:02.555 --> 00:10:04.515 "I planted." 00:10:04.515 --> 00:10:05.736 I planted. 00:10:05.736 --> 00:10:09.206 So God uses men to plant the seed of the Word. 00:10:09.206 --> 00:10:11.872 And He uses that seed to save people 00:10:11.872 --> 00:10:15.675 and plant true converts. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:15.675 --> 00:10:20.044 So do we see ourselves as sowers 00:10:20.044 --> 00:10:22.563 planting seed? 00:10:22.563 --> 00:10:25.433 We have seed. 00:10:25.433 --> 00:10:28.696 We've been given the seed. 00:10:28.696 --> 00:10:29.801 And isn't it something? 00:10:29.801 --> 00:10:35.340 The seed looks so insignificant. 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:38.792 Vance Havner said when he was young - 00:10:38.792 --> 00:10:41.878 I don't know; do they still do this? 00:10:41.878 --> 00:10:44.087 You get your garden seeds in a little package 00:10:44.087 --> 00:10:47.361 and it has a beautiful picture on there? 00:10:47.361 --> 00:10:52.189 And you know it's a promise of what could be. 00:10:52.189 --> 00:10:53.935 But you look inside - 00:10:53.935 --> 00:10:56.242 I mean, lettuce is really the one, 00:10:56.242 --> 00:10:57.592 when you look inside, 00:10:57.592 --> 00:10:59.688 it looks like you're planting pepper 00:10:59.688 --> 00:11:01.155 in the ground. 00:11:01.155 --> 00:11:03.131 It's like how can this possibly 00:11:03.131 --> 00:11:05.844 bring forth a crop? 00:11:05.844 --> 00:11:07.407 Well, you think of Paul standing 00:11:07.407 --> 00:11:11.777 on Mars Hill among the scoffers. 00:11:11.777 --> 00:11:13.670 This is what we are. 00:11:13.670 --> 00:11:16.533 We're in a heathen society 00:11:16.533 --> 00:11:18.543 that hates the Word, 00:11:18.543 --> 00:11:21.067 and it looks like those seeds are so small 00:11:21.067 --> 00:11:24.922 and there's a step of faith involved in that; 00:11:24.922 --> 00:11:29.176 in just planting that seed. 00:11:29.176 --> 00:11:33.380 The promise of what can be is on the cover, 00:11:33.380 --> 00:11:35.732 but it requires a step of faith. 00:11:35.732 --> 00:11:38.556 The giant sunflowers, you know, 00:11:38.556 --> 00:11:41.106 that is almost like a tree - 00:11:41.106 --> 00:11:45.142 that starts out from one seed. 00:11:45.142 --> 00:11:48.247 And so are we sowing? 00:11:48.247 --> 00:11:51.497 Brother Kurt Daniel, a pastor there in Illinois, 00:11:51.497 --> 00:11:53.595 you call his number - if you don't get him, 00:11:53.595 --> 00:11:55.056 you get the answering machine, 00:11:55.056 --> 00:11:57.791 and at the end he'll say, 00:11:57.791 --> 00:12:00.230 "and remember the words of the Lord Jesus," 00:12:00.230 --> 00:12:02.532 and then he quotes a verse of Scripture. 00:12:02.532 --> 00:12:05.429 What's that? Planting a seed. 00:12:05.429 --> 00:12:07.019 Well, that won't do any good. 00:12:07.019 --> 00:12:10.283 Well, God says the opposite, doesn't He? 00:12:10.283 --> 00:12:12.411 Ecclesiastes 11:4-6 00:12:12.411 --> 00:12:15.616 "He who watches the wind will not sow, 00:12:15.616 --> 00:12:17.412 and he who looks at the clouds 00:12:17.412 --> 00:12:19.132 will not reap. 00:12:19.132 --> 00:12:23.243 Just as you do not know the path of the wind, 00:12:23.243 --> 00:12:25.335 and how bones are formed in the womb 00:12:25.335 --> 00:12:26.963 of a pregnant woman, 00:12:26.963 --> 00:12:29.953 so you do not know the activity of God 00:12:29.953 --> 00:12:32.826 who makes all things. 00:12:32.826 --> 00:12:35.737 Sow your seed in the morning, 00:12:35.737 --> 00:12:38.939 and do not be idle in the evening. 00:12:38.939 --> 00:12:42.614 For you do not know whether morning 00:12:42.614 --> 00:12:45.448 or evening sowing will succeed 00:12:45.448 --> 00:12:50.084 or whether both of them alike will be good." 00:12:50.084 --> 00:12:52.824 Now, the devil tells you the opposite, doesn't he? 00:12:52.824 --> 00:12:53.746 You don't know. 00:12:53.746 --> 00:12:55.777 Nothing will happen in the morning. 00:12:55.777 --> 00:12:56.835 You don't even know, 00:12:56.835 --> 00:12:59.356 maybe nothing will happen in either one of them. 00:12:59.356 --> 00:13:02.577 God says just the other way around. 00:13:02.577 --> 00:13:04.283 He says sow in the morning; 00:13:04.283 --> 00:13:05.403 sow it in the evening. 00:13:05.403 --> 00:13:07.508 You don't know what I might do. 00:13:07.508 --> 00:13:10.344 I might do something with both of them. 00:13:10.344 --> 00:13:11.783 And it's happened, hasn't it, 00:13:11.783 --> 00:13:14.328 again and again in the most unlikely cases 00:13:14.328 --> 00:13:17.169 where God has taken some seed 00:13:17.169 --> 00:13:19.504 through the instrumentality of man 00:13:19.504 --> 00:13:21.597 planting some little insignificant seed; 00:13:21.597 --> 00:13:26.395 God has planted a real, true Christian. 00:13:26.395 --> 00:13:28.301 And lo and behold, they spring up 00:13:28.301 --> 00:13:31.123 out of dry ground. 00:13:31.123 --> 00:13:35.323 And they're sustained by God. 00:13:35.323 --> 00:13:38.004 So the prerequisite of growth is planted. 00:13:38.004 --> 00:13:39.234 And that has to be. 00:13:39.234 --> 00:13:40.736 God has to plant the person 00:13:40.736 --> 00:13:42.850 and He does it through the instrumentality 00:13:42.850 --> 00:13:46.003 of us planting the seed. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:46.003 --> 00:13:48.074 Secondly, what else is true 00:13:48.074 --> 00:13:53.013 about the kingdom of God? 00:13:53.013 --> 00:13:55.767 Are you listening to this? 00:13:55.767 --> 00:13:59.334 There is a time element involved. 00:13:59.334 --> 00:14:02.390 There is a process involved. 00:14:02.390 --> 00:14:03.774 He goes to bed at night; 00:14:03.774 --> 00:14:04.883 he gets up by day. 00:14:04.883 --> 00:14:06.075 He goes to bed at night; 00:14:06.075 --> 00:14:08.149 he gets up by day. 00:14:08.149 --> 00:14:09.382 What's Jesus saying? 00:14:09.382 --> 00:14:13.013 He's saying there is a time element involved 00:14:13.013 --> 00:14:15.717 in this matter of growth. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:15.717 --> 00:14:20.925 One of the things that a farmer has to have is patience. 00:14:20.925 --> 00:14:24.670 And actually, as I see the weather patterns and what-have-you, 00:14:24.670 --> 00:14:26.231 I think well, you now, 00:14:26.231 --> 00:14:28.575 I really don't want to be a farmer. 00:14:28.575 --> 00:14:30.724 I mean, think of it. 00:14:30.724 --> 00:14:34.691 James specifically brings this out. 00:14:34.691 --> 00:14:36.452 "Be patient therefore, brethren, 00:14:36.452 --> 00:14:37.847 until the coming of the Lord. 00:14:37.847 --> 00:14:40.831 Behold the farmer waits 00:14:40.831 --> 00:14:42.783 for the precious produce of the soil 00:14:42.783 --> 00:14:45.425 being patient about it 00:14:45.425 --> 00:14:47.649 until it gets the early and late rains. 00:14:47.649 --> 00:14:50.261 You too be patient. 00:14:50.261 --> 00:14:52.500 Strengthen your hearts 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:54.421 for the coming of the Lord is at hand." 00:14:54.421 --> 00:14:59.670 We don't like to think in these terms. 00:14:59.670 --> 00:15:02.350 But, the Lord is telling us something here, isn't He? 00:15:02.350 --> 00:15:04.558 You just picture a farmer 00:15:04.558 --> 00:15:06.791 sitting dejectedly on this tractor 00:15:06.791 --> 00:15:08.153 at the end of the day, 00:15:08.153 --> 00:15:09.611 and you say, "what's wrong?" 00:15:09.611 --> 00:15:12.298 And he says, "I don't have any crops." 00:15:12.298 --> 00:15:13.358 "When did you plant?" 00:15:13.358 --> 00:15:15.430 "This morning." 00:15:15.430 --> 00:15:17.880 It's absurd isn't it? 00:15:17.880 --> 00:15:20.747 That's exactly the way we are. 00:15:20.747 --> 00:15:22.473 Instant. 00:15:22.473 --> 00:15:24.866 I read my Bible every day this week 00:15:24.866 --> 00:15:27.340 and I don't see any growth. 00:15:27.340 --> 00:15:33.837 You know? 00:15:33.837 --> 00:15:35.263 In the area of witnessing; 00:15:35.263 --> 00:15:36.642 in the area of Bible study; 00:15:36.642 --> 00:15:38.269 in the area of prayer, 00:15:38.269 --> 00:15:41.101 this instant mentality. 00:15:41.101 --> 00:15:43.158 Miles Stanford said, "when God 00:15:43.158 --> 00:15:45.362 wants to make a squash, 00:15:45.362 --> 00:15:47.821 He takes just a short time. 00:15:47.821 --> 00:15:49.846 But when He wants to make an oak tree, 00:15:49.846 --> 00:15:54.675 it might take a hundred years." 00:15:54.675 --> 00:16:00.121 There's a time element involved. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:00.121 --> 00:16:04.114 Prime Minister Disraeli there in England 00:16:04.114 --> 00:16:06.434 at one point, the story is 00:16:06.434 --> 00:16:11.574 that he stood up and gave an extemporaneous speech. 00:16:11.574 --> 00:16:14.456 And later in the day, 00:16:14.456 --> 00:16:18.773 they were having some kind of 00:16:18.773 --> 00:16:20.126 state function, 00:16:20.126 --> 00:16:21.608 and one of the ladies of state 00:16:21.608 --> 00:16:22.836 came up to him and said, 00:16:22.836 --> 00:16:24.653 "I want to tell you how much I enjoyed 00:16:24.653 --> 00:16:26.093 that extemporaneous speech." 00:16:26.093 --> 00:16:29.813 She said, "it's been on my mind all day." 00:16:29.813 --> 00:16:31.615 He said, "Madam, that speech has 00:16:31.615 --> 00:16:35.383 been on my mind for twenty years." 00:16:35.383 --> 00:16:36.830 That's the time element. 00:16:36.830 --> 00:16:39.071 You hear one of these brothers get up 00:16:39.071 --> 00:16:42.323 and give an extemporaneous word. 00:16:42.323 --> 00:16:44.870 That's been there a long time. 00:16:44.870 --> 00:16:46.945 That doesn't just happen. 00:16:46.945 --> 00:16:48.178 It takes time. 00:16:48.178 --> 00:16:56.685 God works gradually. 00:16:56.685 --> 00:16:59.859 There's a time element involved with true growth. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:59.859 --> 00:17:02.870 Let me say it another way. 00:17:02.870 --> 00:17:07.020 Growth is imperceptible. 00:17:07.020 --> 00:17:09.234 That's another way of saying it. 00:17:09.234 --> 00:17:12.210 Growth is imperceptible. 00:17:12.210 --> 00:17:15.976 You think of corn plants. 00:17:15.976 --> 00:17:18.696 Just sit; go out in the field. 00:17:18.696 --> 00:17:20.285 I don't know - you all don't have 00:17:20.285 --> 00:17:21.438 much corn down here. 00:17:21.438 --> 00:17:24.050 But you go out and look at a corn plant. 00:17:24.050 --> 00:17:26.206 Just stare at it really hard. 00:17:26.206 --> 00:17:28.693 Keep an eye on it. 00:17:28.693 --> 00:17:31.099 Watch it grow. 00:17:31.099 --> 00:17:37.675 You won't see anything whatsoever. 00:17:37.675 --> 00:17:39.803 You look at your own life really hard. 00:17:39.803 --> 00:17:41.852 Stare at it really hard 00:17:41.852 --> 00:17:43.790 to detect a trace of growth. 00:17:43.790 --> 00:17:47.713 You're not going to see anything. 00:17:47.713 --> 00:17:49.831 That's encouraging, isn't it? 00:17:49.831 --> 00:17:52.901 I mean, you parents - 00:17:52.901 --> 00:17:54.077 you know, this morning, 00:17:54.077 --> 00:17:55.544 your kids walked into the room 00:17:55.544 --> 00:17:58.134 and you said, "My, how you've grown 00:17:58.134 --> 00:17:59.338 during the night." 00:17:59.338 --> 00:18:02.336 No. 00:18:02.336 --> 00:18:04.959 But somebody that hasn't seen them for a while, 00:18:04.959 --> 00:18:07.684 they come in - it's amazing. 00:18:07.684 --> 00:18:10.342 And we forget. 00:18:10.342 --> 00:18:12.225 And the quickest way to get discouraged 00:18:12.225 --> 00:18:14.021 is to look inside all the time 00:18:14.021 --> 00:18:15.879 and keep a real good eye on yourself 00:18:15.879 --> 00:18:24.571 and see whether you're growing. 00:18:24.571 --> 00:18:27.015 We forget how different people are now 00:18:27.015 --> 00:18:30.545 from what they were ten years ago. 00:18:30.545 --> 00:18:32.364 And growth is like that. 00:18:32.364 --> 00:18:33.612 It's imperceptible. 00:18:33.612 --> 00:18:34.951 It's slow. 00:18:34.951 --> 00:18:39.187 It's mysteriously slow. 00:18:39.187 --> 00:18:42.809 There's an apparent slowness about it. NOTE Paragraph 00:18:42.809 --> 00:18:44.858 What is does Jesus tell us? 00:18:44.858 --> 00:18:50.086 Well, He talks about the mystery of growth in v. 27. 00:18:50.086 --> 00:18:51.483 "He goes to bed at night; 00:18:51.483 --> 00:18:52.437 gets up by day." 00:18:52.437 --> 00:18:54.738 There's this time element. 00:18:54.738 --> 00:18:57.424 Time element. 00:18:57.424 --> 00:18:59.242 My mother used to say that she thought 00:18:59.242 --> 00:19:02.212 she could hear corn growing in the night. 00:19:02.212 --> 00:19:03.805 I don't think so. 00:19:03.805 --> 00:19:09.296 I think she could hear the leaves rustling. 00:19:09.296 --> 00:19:11.111 There's a time element. 00:19:11.111 --> 00:19:14.800 But then He says, 00:19:14.800 --> 00:19:17.795 "the seed sprouts up and grows. 00:19:17.795 --> 00:19:21.450 How he himself does not know." 00:19:21.450 --> 00:19:24.116 There's a mystery. NOTE Paragraph 00:19:24.116 --> 00:19:27.230 Now listen to this, 00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:28.558 Jesus said this is the way 00:19:28.558 --> 00:19:31.809 the kingdom of heaven is. 00:19:31.809 --> 00:19:35.600 You do not know how growth takes place. 00:19:35.600 --> 00:19:36.645 That's the way it is. 00:19:36.645 --> 00:19:38.370 You don't know how it takes place. 00:19:38.370 --> 00:19:39.956 That's what He's already said. 00:19:39.956 --> 00:19:41.086 It's mysterious. 00:19:41.086 --> 00:19:43.451 The Gospel takes root in your life, 00:19:43.451 --> 00:19:45.649 and in other's life, 00:19:45.649 --> 00:19:47.167 and you see things happen that 00:19:47.167 --> 00:19:49.585 you cannot figure out. 00:19:49.585 --> 00:19:51.598 It fills you with amazement and wonder. 00:19:51.598 --> 00:19:54.125 And you're not going to have the slightest idea how. 00:19:54.125 --> 00:19:56.522 Jesus said the wind blows where it wishes. 00:19:56.522 --> 00:19:57.869 You hear the sound of it. 00:19:57.869 --> 00:19:59.561 You don't know where it comes from 00:19:59.561 --> 00:20:00.520 or where it's going. 00:20:00.520 --> 00:20:04.949 So is everyone who's born of the Spirit. 00:20:04.949 --> 00:20:07.520 I've never understood growth in myself 00:20:07.520 --> 00:20:08.717 or anyone else. 00:20:08.717 --> 00:20:11.279 We know, like we've heard this morning, 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:13.038 we know it has to do with 00:20:13.038 --> 00:20:14.444 spending time in the Word; 00:20:14.444 --> 00:20:15.770 it has to do with prayer; 00:20:15.770 --> 00:20:17.358 it has to do with fellowship. 00:20:17.358 --> 00:20:20.749 All those things are the context. 00:20:20.749 --> 00:20:22.785 So how many of you have just decided 00:20:22.785 --> 00:20:25.739 I'm going to read my Bible every day this week? 00:20:25.739 --> 00:20:28.963 How'd you do on that? 00:20:28.963 --> 00:20:30.576 See what I'm saying? 00:20:30.576 --> 00:20:32.138 Underneath it all, 00:20:32.138 --> 00:20:34.941 there's a mysterious working 00:20:34.941 --> 00:20:37.506 of the power of God 00:20:37.506 --> 00:20:39.886 underneath; sustaining everything. 00:20:39.886 --> 00:20:42.955 Work out your salvation with fear and trembling 00:20:42.955 --> 00:20:45.282 for God is working inside of you 00:20:45.282 --> 00:20:49.369 supernaturally, or you're not going to make it. 00:20:49.369 --> 00:20:51.783 You're not going to make it. 00:20:51.783 --> 00:20:54.472 But He is working inside of you 00:20:54.472 --> 00:20:55.624 if you're a Christian. 00:20:55.624 --> 00:20:57.239 And you are going to make it. 00:20:57.239 --> 00:21:01.835 See? 00:21:01.835 --> 00:21:05.001 It's mysterious. 00:21:05.001 --> 00:21:06.965 I've never understood growth in myself 00:21:06.965 --> 00:21:07.963 or anybody else. 00:21:07.963 --> 00:21:09.697 If it's something where you can say, 00:21:09.697 --> 00:21:13.492 I did this, and I did this, and I did this, 00:21:13.492 --> 00:21:15.744 you've probably got some kind 00:21:15.744 --> 00:21:18.113 of Pharisaical counterfeit. 00:21:18.113 --> 00:21:22.322 That's what you've got. NOTE Paragraph 00:21:22.322 --> 00:21:29.449 I've never liked how-to's. 00:21:29.449 --> 00:21:32.434 There's books out on that - 00:21:32.434 --> 00:21:35.132 how to win souls; 00:21:35.132 --> 00:21:40.248 how to have church growth. 00:21:40.248 --> 00:21:42.870 The Lord Jesus said right here there's no "how-to." 00:21:42.870 --> 00:21:45.448 He said you don't know how. 00:21:45.448 --> 00:21:50.976 That just did away with a bunch of conferences. 00:21:50.976 --> 00:21:52.662 You don't need to waste your time. 00:21:52.662 --> 00:21:55.008 I've seen people taking notes on how-to. 00:21:55.008 --> 00:21:56.479 They fill up 20 pages. 00:21:56.479 --> 00:21:59.185 A year later, they're coming back to the same conference; 00:21:59.185 --> 00:22:00.373 filling up 20 more pages. 00:22:00.373 --> 00:22:03.178 Nothing ever changes. 00:22:03.178 --> 00:22:05.080 You've got to be cast upon God 00:22:05.080 --> 00:22:06.713 like Brother Merle used to say. 00:22:06.713 --> 00:22:08.861 The Bible's not a how-to book, 00:22:08.861 --> 00:22:11.055 it's a what-to book. 00:22:11.055 --> 00:22:13.612 A lot of the stuff Nathan was saying to us today, 00:22:13.612 --> 00:22:17.257 that's what-to, you know? 00:22:17.257 --> 00:22:19.258 You be strong; you be stable. 00:22:19.258 --> 00:22:21.647 How in the world am I going to do that? 00:22:21.647 --> 00:22:25.707 Well, you've got to go to God. 00:22:25.707 --> 00:22:29.816 Usually what happens in true growth 00:22:29.816 --> 00:22:32.073 is you're crying out to God for change. 00:22:32.073 --> 00:22:33.848 You've tried this. You've tried that. 00:22:33.848 --> 00:22:35.375 You've gone to this conference. 00:22:35.375 --> 00:22:36.855 You've gone to that conference. 00:22:36.855 --> 00:22:39.071 You've tried squinting your eyes harder 00:22:39.071 --> 00:22:42.718 when you repented. 00:22:42.718 --> 00:22:46.161 And none of it worked. 00:22:46.161 --> 00:22:47.382 And then, lo and behold, 00:22:47.382 --> 00:22:50.968 you look back and it's: God has changed me; 00:22:50.968 --> 00:22:53.373 set me free from this. 00:22:53.373 --> 00:22:56.729 He's working in my life. 00:22:56.729 --> 00:22:58.872 Isn't it wonderful? 00:22:58.872 --> 00:23:00.509 He says it happens - 00:23:00.509 --> 00:23:02.505 it happens how? You don't know. 00:23:02.505 --> 00:23:05.117 I don't know how this happened. 00:23:05.117 --> 00:23:08.558 But I know, yes, I had to spend time 00:23:08.558 --> 00:23:09.871 in the Word. 00:23:09.871 --> 00:23:12.344 Yes, I had to cry out to God. 00:23:12.344 --> 00:23:13.807 Yes, on all that, 00:23:13.807 --> 00:23:15.666 but in the end you look back. NOTE Paragraph 00:23:15.666 --> 00:23:17.131 You know I used to think 00:23:17.131 --> 00:23:18.784 that victory over sin would be - 00:23:18.784 --> 00:23:21.252 I'd be standing there like these hunters 00:23:21.252 --> 00:23:23.457 in Africa, you know, 00:23:23.457 --> 00:23:29.258 with my rifle and my foot on the head of the lion. 00:23:29.258 --> 00:23:35.681 This is Charles with victory over sin. 00:23:35.681 --> 00:23:37.825 It's more like you're shaking your head 00:23:37.825 --> 00:23:40.442 saying I can't figure out how in the world 00:23:40.442 --> 00:23:42.594 God ever set me free from that, 00:23:42.594 --> 00:23:47.134 but it sure is good to be free from that. 00:23:47.134 --> 00:23:49.138 And now I see how bad it was. 00:23:49.138 --> 00:23:52.147 I couldn't even see how bad it was before. 00:23:52.147 --> 00:24:00.940 Isn't that true? NOTE Paragraph 00:24:00.940 --> 00:24:03.661 It's mysterious. 00:24:03.661 --> 00:24:05.300 The mistake that people make 00:24:05.300 --> 00:24:07.029 is to take their own experiences 00:24:07.029 --> 00:24:09.003 and try to get a formula that you can 00:24:09.003 --> 00:24:10.276 give to everybody else, 00:24:10.276 --> 00:24:12.637 and if they do that it'll work. 00:24:12.637 --> 00:24:14.936 It won't. 00:24:14.936 --> 00:24:18.715 God uses things in one person's life 00:24:18.715 --> 00:24:21.278 and the next person reads that same book or whatever 00:24:21.278 --> 00:24:24.581 and they don't get a thing out of it. 00:24:24.581 --> 00:24:26.614 You remember with the ark. 00:24:26.614 --> 00:24:28.093 They said, well, take that, 00:24:28.093 --> 00:24:29.550 it will work for us. 00:24:29.550 --> 00:24:33.547 No, it won't. NOTE Paragraph 00:24:33.547 --> 00:24:35.437 Well, what else does He teach us? 00:24:35.437 --> 00:24:39.822 Growth is miraculous - v. 28. 00:24:39.822 --> 00:24:42.883 "The earth produces crops by itself." 00:24:42.883 --> 00:24:48.803 Presto! They just pop out of it. 00:24:48.803 --> 00:24:50.493 That's what Jesus said. 00:24:50.493 --> 00:24:51.851 In other words, He's saying 00:24:51.851 --> 00:24:55.056 there's something supernatural about this. 00:24:55.056 --> 00:24:56.780 You can't explain this on your own. 00:24:56.780 --> 00:24:58.745 "The earth produces crops by itself." 00:24:58.745 --> 00:25:02.563 It's beyond man's power totally. 00:25:02.563 --> 00:25:05.022 And it's incredible how it happens. 00:25:05.022 --> 00:25:08.778 There's a power there outside of us. 00:25:08.778 --> 00:25:11.008 And we don't know. 00:25:11.008 --> 00:25:14.795 We're not the one that grows the seed. 00:25:14.795 --> 00:25:16.261 God is the one that does that. 00:25:16.261 --> 00:25:19.081 All we do is put the seed into the ground. 00:25:19.081 --> 00:25:22.701 And so there's a miraculous aspect about growth. 00:25:22.701 --> 00:25:27.754 There's power and vitality in the seed itself. 00:25:27.754 --> 00:25:29.855 Peter talks about being born again, 00:25:29.855 --> 00:25:32.324 not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible 00:25:32.324 --> 00:25:34.405 by the Word of God 00:25:34.405 --> 00:25:37.785 that lives and abides forever. 00:25:37.785 --> 00:25:40.226 Romans 1:16 "I am not ashamed of the Gospel. 00:25:40.226 --> 00:25:44.558 It is the power of God unto salvation..." 00:25:44.558 --> 00:25:46.528 1 Thessalonians 2:13 00:25:46.528 --> 00:25:50.261 "The Word of God which performs its work 00:25:50.261 --> 00:25:52.012 in you who believe." 00:25:52.012 --> 00:25:53.651 And I like that where Paul says 00:25:53.651 --> 00:25:56.252 in Acts 20 - he says I commend you to God. 00:25:56.252 --> 00:25:57.831 We've done this often with people 00:25:57.831 --> 00:25:59.719 leaving the church and going back 00:25:59.719 --> 00:26:01.041 to China or wherever. 00:26:01.041 --> 00:26:02.359 I commend you to God 00:26:02.359 --> 00:26:05.215 and to the word of His grace 00:26:05.215 --> 00:26:08.198 which is able to build you up 00:26:08.198 --> 00:26:10.520 and give you an inheritance. 00:26:10.520 --> 00:26:14.189 It's just wonderful, isn't it? 00:26:14.189 --> 00:26:17.370 There's life in the seed itself. 00:26:17.370 --> 00:26:18.906 The very idea of seed - 00:26:18.906 --> 00:26:22.030 it's the Greek word semen. 00:26:22.030 --> 00:26:27.336 1 John - "God's seed remains in him." NOTE Paragraph 00:26:27.336 --> 00:26:29.676 So there's something miraculous about the seed, 00:26:29.676 --> 00:26:32.247 but there's something miraculous also 00:26:32.247 --> 00:26:34.491 about the earth. 00:26:34.491 --> 00:26:39.705 The earth brings forth fruit of itself. 00:26:39.705 --> 00:26:42.781 Isaiah 61 says this: 00:26:42.781 --> 00:26:45.197 "I will rejoice greatly in the Lord. 00:26:45.197 --> 00:26:47.436 My soul will exult in my God, 00:26:47.436 --> 00:26:49.558 for He has clothed me with garments 00:26:49.558 --> 00:26:51.603 of salvation; 00:26:51.603 --> 00:26:54.244 He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness 00:26:54.244 --> 00:26:56.124 as a bridegroom decks himself 00:26:56.124 --> 00:26:57.699 with a garland, 00:26:57.699 --> 00:27:01.295 and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 00:27:01.295 --> 00:27:05.415 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, 00:27:05.415 --> 00:27:09.402 and as a garden causes the things 00:27:09.402 --> 00:27:13.055 sown in it to spring up, 00:27:13.055 --> 00:27:15.579 so the Lord God..." 00:27:15.579 --> 00:27:17.934 He's the Garden here, see? 00:27:17.934 --> 00:27:20.831 The garden causes the things sown in it 00:27:20.831 --> 00:27:22.018 to spring up. 00:27:22.018 --> 00:27:26.435 "So the Lord God will cause 00:27:26.435 --> 00:27:30.563 righteousness and praise to spring up 00:27:30.563 --> 00:27:31.962 before all the nations." 00:27:31.962 --> 00:27:35.421 Now that's what we're talking about here. 00:27:35.421 --> 00:27:36.872 What Jesus is saying is 00:27:36.872 --> 00:27:40.029 God is at work underneath the surface 00:27:40.029 --> 00:27:43.890 to make things spring up supernaturally 00:27:43.890 --> 00:27:46.785 that could not otherwise happen. 00:27:46.785 --> 00:27:49.573 You remember in 1 Corinthians 3, 00:27:49.573 --> 00:27:52.302 "What then is Apollos? What is Paul? 00:27:52.302 --> 00:27:54.342 Servants through whom you believed 00:27:54.342 --> 00:27:57.119 even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:00.535 I planted. Apollos watered. 00:28:00.535 --> 00:28:05.070 But God was causing the growth." 00:28:05.070 --> 00:28:06.593 You know, if you think about it, 00:28:06.593 --> 00:28:09.396 what are you really doing when you put a seed in the ground? 00:28:09.396 --> 00:28:11.657 You're not doing anything. 00:28:11.657 --> 00:28:13.745 You put water on it. 00:28:13.745 --> 00:28:18.631 God is the one making that germinate and grow. 00:28:18.631 --> 00:28:22.348 Are you listening to me? 00:28:22.348 --> 00:28:26.245 God causes growth. 00:28:26.245 --> 00:28:28.567 The only way you're ever going to grow 00:28:28.567 --> 00:28:32.996 is if God causes you to grow. 00:28:32.996 --> 00:28:35.541 That's the only way. 00:28:35.541 --> 00:28:37.603 The only way you're ever going to change; 00:28:37.603 --> 00:28:39.409 the only way you're ever going to be 00:28:39.409 --> 00:28:41.572 more Christlike is if God causes you 00:28:41.572 --> 00:28:45.762 to become more Christlike. 00:28:45.762 --> 00:28:49.823 And that's what He's promised to do. 00:28:49.823 --> 00:28:57.751 That's what He's promised to do in you. 00:28:57.751 --> 00:28:59.512 What a glorious thing! 00:28:59.512 --> 00:29:02.177 The only hope anybody has - 00:29:02.177 --> 00:29:05.177 none of us will ever rise any higher 00:29:05.177 --> 00:29:07.279 than God lifts us by His grace. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:11.292 You're not going to do it. 00:29:11.292 --> 00:29:12.875 But He will do it. 00:29:12.875 --> 00:29:17.557 He will do it. 00:29:17.557 --> 00:29:20.420 The Lord God will cause righteousness 00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:22.788 and praise to spring up 00:29:22.788 --> 00:29:25.599 before all nations. 00:29:25.599 --> 00:29:27.146 That's the only hope we have. 00:29:27.146 --> 00:29:31.229 God working in us to will and do 00:29:31.229 --> 00:29:32.627 of His good pleasure; 00:29:32.627 --> 00:29:35.211 causing growth. 00:29:35.211 --> 00:29:37.146 He causes you to will. 00:29:37.146 --> 00:29:38.595 He gives you that desire, 00:29:38.595 --> 00:29:40.602 and then it's a long ways from the time 00:29:40.602 --> 00:29:42.564 you start thinking I want to be more holy 00:29:42.564 --> 00:29:44.118 in this or that; 00:29:44.118 --> 00:29:47.071 it's a long ways before you're actually there. 00:29:47.071 --> 00:29:50.745 He works in you both to will and to work 00:29:50.745 --> 00:29:53.921 for His good pleasure. NOTE Paragraph 00:29:53.921 --> 00:29:55.878 So if our Christianity can be explained 00:29:55.878 --> 00:29:57.315 by human psychology 00:29:57.315 --> 00:29:58.663 or turning over a new leaf 00:29:58.663 --> 00:30:00.237 or trying to be better or so on; 00:30:00.237 --> 00:30:02.220 there's no miracle, 00:30:02.220 --> 00:30:03.850 there's no outside power, 00:30:03.850 --> 00:30:09.577 then you're not a Christian. 00:30:09.577 --> 00:30:13.541 What an encouragement this is God's work, 00:30:13.541 --> 00:30:16.857 and He will accomplish what concerns us. NOTE Paragraph 00:30:16.857 --> 00:30:20.033 Alright, number five. 00:30:20.033 --> 00:30:23.854 The progressiveness of growth. 00:30:23.854 --> 00:30:26.245 You see it in v. 27, it sprouts up. 00:30:26.245 --> 00:30:28.082 First of all, it has to sprout up 00:30:28.082 --> 00:30:29.781 and it grows. 00:30:29.781 --> 00:30:33.340 V. 28, "First the blade, 00:30:33.340 --> 00:30:35.683 then the head, 00:30:35.683 --> 00:30:39.335 then the mature grain in the head." 00:30:39.335 --> 00:30:40.467 Progressive. 00:30:40.467 --> 00:30:42.211 Now that's simple, isn't it? 00:30:42.211 --> 00:30:44.590 This and then this and then this. 00:30:44.590 --> 00:30:46.715 We don't want that. 00:30:46.715 --> 00:30:48.876 What we want is: 00:30:48.876 --> 00:30:51.531 go from here over to there. 00:30:51.531 --> 00:30:54.819 You know, you could have such-and-such experience. 00:30:54.819 --> 00:30:58.008 That puts you clear over here. 00:30:58.008 --> 00:31:01.176 You could enter into entire sanctification. 00:31:01.176 --> 00:31:03.114 Just have this happen. 00:31:03.114 --> 00:31:05.297 Skip over all that stuff. 00:31:05.297 --> 00:31:07.028 It's kind of hard going through 00:31:07.028 --> 00:31:12.673 all that stuff anyway. 00:31:12.673 --> 00:31:14.379 A lot of teaching is like that. 00:31:14.379 --> 00:31:16.606 Anything that is held out to you 00:31:16.606 --> 00:31:17.762 that makes you think: 00:31:17.762 --> 00:31:20.463 if I could just have such-and-such, 00:31:20.463 --> 00:31:22.885 I could skip over these stages. 00:31:22.885 --> 00:31:25.745 That's a false teaching. 00:31:25.745 --> 00:31:29.601 And you may have people say 00:31:29.601 --> 00:31:31.484 that they've entered in and they have; 00:31:31.484 --> 00:31:33.393 there's been some special thing 00:31:33.393 --> 00:31:34.740 happen in their life where 00:31:34.740 --> 00:31:36.695 they're in a different plane; 00:31:36.695 --> 00:31:38.571 a higher plane than they were before. 00:31:38.571 --> 00:31:40.612 That happens. 00:31:40.612 --> 00:31:42.479 But beloved, I'll guarantee you this, 00:31:42.479 --> 00:31:44.382 they're still going through the stages 00:31:44.382 --> 00:31:47.808 just like you are. 00:31:47.808 --> 00:31:49.971 First the blade, then the head, 00:31:49.971 --> 00:31:52.751 then the mature grain. 00:31:52.751 --> 00:31:58.398 That's always the way it is. 00:31:58.398 --> 00:32:01.706 You see somebody that's entirely sanctified, 00:32:01.706 --> 00:32:03.966 you're looking at Jesus. 00:32:03.966 --> 00:32:06.763 And He's the only one - 00:32:06.763 --> 00:32:12.641 until heaven. 00:32:12.641 --> 00:32:15.994 The holiest man in the world today 00:32:15.994 --> 00:32:18.064 has so much sin, he'd be in hell. 00:32:18.064 --> 00:32:20.791 (incomplete thought) 00:32:20.791 --> 00:32:22.909 Can you imagine the way Jesus 00:32:22.909 --> 00:32:25.010 handled a towel? 00:32:25.010 --> 00:32:26.839 There's nobody in the world 00:32:26.839 --> 00:32:29.726 that could hold a towel the way Jesus did 00:32:29.726 --> 00:32:32.238 and wash somebody's feet. 00:32:32.238 --> 00:32:37.016 You can't begin to be like Him in that sense. 00:32:37.016 --> 00:32:43.390 But we can walk in His steps. NOTE Paragraph 00:32:43.390 --> 00:32:45.132 Growth is progressive. 00:32:45.132 --> 00:32:47.226 And you see here the utter stupidity 00:32:47.226 --> 00:32:49.581 of the professing church in this. 00:32:49.581 --> 00:32:52.687 There's some former football player 00:32:52.687 --> 00:32:54.486 or singer or whatever; 00:32:54.486 --> 00:32:56.624 they get converted and two weeks later, 00:32:56.624 --> 00:32:59.263 they're speaking to a crowd of 1,000 people. 00:32:59.263 --> 00:33:03.562 Or 10,000. More like 20,000 people. 00:33:03.562 --> 00:33:06.778 You take some little immature plant, 00:33:06.778 --> 00:33:09.703 at best, and stick them out there. 00:33:09.703 --> 00:33:13.706 That's not the way it is. 00:33:13.706 --> 00:33:14.791 That's folly. 00:33:14.791 --> 00:33:16.646 There's a process involved. NOTE Paragraph 00:33:16.646 --> 00:33:18.934 Hudson Taylor, before he became 00:33:18.934 --> 00:33:20.745 the head of the China Inland Mission 00:33:20.745 --> 00:33:22.625 had to spend years in obscurity 00:33:22.625 --> 00:33:26.802 as a nobody learning things from God. 00:33:26.802 --> 00:33:28.975 And I like that two volume set 00:33:28.975 --> 00:33:30.612 on the life of Hudson Taylor. 00:33:30.612 --> 00:33:33.451 Volume 1: The Growth of a Soul. 00:33:33.451 --> 00:33:37.582 Volume 2: The Growth of a Work of God. 00:33:37.582 --> 00:33:39.592 This tells my age, 00:33:39.592 --> 00:33:41.790 but back when I was young, 00:33:41.790 --> 00:33:42.886 we always talked about 00:33:42.886 --> 00:33:44.419 the Empire State Building. 00:33:44.419 --> 00:33:48.665 Boy, this is the tallest building in the world. 00:33:48.665 --> 00:33:50.799 Well, anyway, they said it took as long 00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:52.344 to put that foundation in, 00:33:52.344 --> 00:33:54.104 and there's as much in the foundation 00:33:54.104 --> 00:33:57.576 as there is in the rest of the building. 00:33:57.576 --> 00:34:00.765 Picture building some of these 00:34:00.765 --> 00:34:04.164 massive things that they've got now 00:34:04.164 --> 00:34:07.220 on a five-foot foundation. 00:34:07.220 --> 00:34:10.315 How long would that last? 00:34:10.315 --> 00:34:12.765 I think it's the Washington Cathedral 00:34:12.765 --> 00:34:14.740 I saw years ago with my mother. 00:34:14.740 --> 00:34:16.503 And in one way, it's impressive 00:34:16.503 --> 00:34:18.232 looking at those top spires 00:34:18.232 --> 00:34:19.396 and everything up there, 00:34:19.396 --> 00:34:21.186 but to me, the most impressive thing 00:34:21.186 --> 00:34:23.500 was when they took us down into the basement. 00:34:23.500 --> 00:34:26.239 And they said, now this rounded wall here 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:28.710 is part of one of the pillars 00:34:28.710 --> 00:34:30.707 that supports this building. 00:34:30.707 --> 00:34:32.906 And you could barely see the curve in it 00:34:32.906 --> 00:34:37.780 it was so big. 00:34:37.780 --> 00:34:42.106 Any life that is real 00:34:42.106 --> 00:34:46.120 has as much underground or more underground 00:34:46.120 --> 00:34:49.634 as there is above the surface. 00:34:49.634 --> 00:34:53.184 It's always that way. 00:34:53.184 --> 00:34:57.476 (incomplete thought) 00:34:57.476 --> 00:34:59.602 You're looking up there at those spires 00:34:59.602 --> 00:35:01.592 of the building, 00:35:01.592 --> 00:35:04.928 when God is driving foundation piling 00:35:04.928 --> 00:35:07.838 in your life that is much harder - 00:35:07.838 --> 00:35:12.506 hard stuff that you've got to learn. NOTE Paragraph 00:35:12.506 --> 00:35:18.571 I was talking about the hymn the other night. 00:35:18.571 --> 00:35:21.122 I like that hymn, I think Vance Havner 00:35:21.122 --> 00:35:22.011 quoted it: 00:35:22.011 --> 00:35:24.363 "Many a rapturous minstrel 00:35:24.363 --> 00:35:25.903 among the sons of light 00:35:25.903 --> 00:35:28.111 will say of his sweetest music 00:35:28.111 --> 00:35:31.392 'I learned it in the night.' 00:35:31.392 --> 00:35:33.093 And many a rolling anthem 00:35:33.093 --> 00:35:35.791 that fills the Father's throne, 00:35:35.791 --> 00:35:37.867 sobbed at his first rehearsal 00:35:37.867 --> 00:35:41.484 in the shroud of a darkened room." 00:35:41.484 --> 00:35:43.878 That's God putting the foundation 00:35:43.878 --> 00:35:45.855 down under the building. 00:35:45.855 --> 00:35:48.284 There is a slowness involved. 00:35:48.284 --> 00:35:53.068 There is a process involved. 00:35:53.068 --> 00:35:54.367 Don't let anybody trick you 00:35:54.367 --> 00:35:55.863 into the idea that you can jump 00:35:55.863 --> 00:35:56.755 from here to here. 00:35:56.755 --> 00:35:59.869 You're not going to shortchange anything. 00:35:59.869 --> 00:36:02.640 You might say, well, I'm going to 00:36:02.640 --> 00:36:04.340 memorize the whole New Testament. 00:36:04.340 --> 00:36:05.302 Well, that's great, 00:36:05.302 --> 00:36:06.981 but it's not going to make you 00:36:06.981 --> 00:36:09.745 a spiritual giant. 00:36:09.745 --> 00:36:16.914 I mean, it's stages. NOTE Paragraph 00:36:16.914 --> 00:36:20.423 Well, the progressiveness of growth. 00:36:20.423 --> 00:36:23.730 Then, the certainty of growth. 00:36:23.730 --> 00:36:25.570 Now remember, the Lord is describing 00:36:25.570 --> 00:36:31.648 the way things are in the kingdom. 00:36:31.648 --> 00:36:35.211 It's like a man who plants seed in the ground. 00:36:35.211 --> 00:36:36.933 And he goes to bed at night. 00:36:36.933 --> 00:36:38.791 This comes up. It grows. 00:36:38.791 --> 00:36:40.671 It grows. It grows. 00:36:40.671 --> 00:36:42.730 And then it dies and withers. 00:36:42.730 --> 00:36:44.230 That's not what He says. 00:36:44.230 --> 00:36:45.804 That's not the way it is when God 00:36:45.804 --> 00:36:47.401 is involved in this. 00:36:47.401 --> 00:36:51.079 It is going to make it. 00:36:51.079 --> 00:36:53.254 It's certain. 00:36:53.254 --> 00:36:57.966 It's going to grow. 00:36:57.966 --> 00:36:59.325 When men plant things, 00:36:59.325 --> 00:37:00.300 they often die. 00:37:00.300 --> 00:37:01.120 Not so with God. 00:37:01.120 --> 00:37:02.293 And you can look at that 00:37:02.293 --> 00:37:05.016 in relation to church history as a whole. 00:37:05.016 --> 00:37:06.765 That little seed that was planted 00:37:06.765 --> 00:37:07.642 at the beginning, 00:37:07.642 --> 00:37:12.095 it becomes a great tree. 00:37:12.095 --> 00:37:13.856 And God's not going to fail. 00:37:13.856 --> 00:37:15.469 The church is not going to fail. 00:37:15.469 --> 00:37:17.049 He's advancing His kingdom. 00:37:17.049 --> 00:37:18.790 He's going to do it. He will do it. 00:37:18.790 --> 00:37:20.570 It will bring forth a crop. 00:37:20.570 --> 00:37:22.947 It will grow. 00:37:22.947 --> 00:37:26.438 It's a certainty. 00:37:26.438 --> 00:37:28.231 Colossians - Paul talks about this. 00:37:28.231 --> 00:37:29.723 He says "you previously heard 00:37:29.723 --> 00:37:31.452 in the Word of truth - the Gospel 00:37:31.452 --> 00:37:33.631 which has come to you, 00:37:33.631 --> 00:37:35.358 just as in all the world also, 00:37:35.358 --> 00:37:39.917 it's constantly bearing fruit and increasing, 00:37:39.917 --> 00:37:42.243 even as it has been doing in you also 00:37:42.243 --> 00:37:44.732 since the day you heard of it 00:37:44.732 --> 00:37:46.840 and understood the grace of God in truth." 00:37:46.840 --> 00:37:49.649 So growth is certain. 00:37:49.649 --> 00:37:51.935 The church isn't going to fail. NOTE Paragraph 00:37:51.935 --> 00:37:53.671 And growth is also certain 00:37:53.671 --> 00:37:58.148 in the life of every true believer. 00:37:58.148 --> 00:38:01.347 Why? Because it's not dependent upon man. 00:38:01.347 --> 00:38:03.234 "Being confident of this very thing, 00:38:03.234 --> 00:38:05.206 that He who began a good work in you" - 00:38:05.206 --> 00:38:07.266 God did it. 00:38:07.266 --> 00:38:10.214 "...Will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." 00:38:10.214 --> 00:38:12.959 We're confident of that. He's the one. 00:38:12.959 --> 00:38:15.739 He'll do it. 00:38:15.739 --> 00:38:17.343 God says in the New Covenant 00:38:17.343 --> 00:38:18.724 there in Ezekiel 36, 00:38:18.724 --> 00:38:21.771 "I will cleanse you of all your filthiness 00:38:21.771 --> 00:38:22.990 and all your idols. 00:38:22.990 --> 00:38:25.997 I will put My Spirit in you and cause you 00:38:25.997 --> 00:38:27.520 to walk in My statutes." 00:38:27.520 --> 00:38:29.655 I'm so thankful. 00:38:29.655 --> 00:38:32.126 He's saying I'm not going to quit on you. 00:38:32.126 --> 00:38:33.755 You may fight this. 00:38:33.755 --> 00:38:36.258 You either fight it or embrace it, 00:38:36.258 --> 00:38:37.336 but if you fight it, 00:38:37.336 --> 00:38:39.532 eventually you're going to embrace it 00:38:39.532 --> 00:38:43.617 if you're a child of God. 00:38:43.617 --> 00:38:46.760 I will cleanse you. I'll cause you to walk... 00:38:46.760 --> 00:38:50.028 It's a hard way though sometimes 00:38:50.028 --> 00:39:00.190 if we resist what God's doing in our lives. NOTE Paragraph 00:39:00.190 --> 00:39:05.247 Jesus said, "blessed is everyone who has; 00:39:05.247 --> 00:39:08.347 to him more shall be given. 00:39:08.347 --> 00:39:10.950 And he shall have an abundance." 00:39:10.950 --> 00:39:12.440 And that's a wonderful thing. 00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:14.225 If you have anything that's real, 00:39:14.225 --> 00:39:16.312 it'd be better to be the weakest Christian 00:39:16.312 --> 00:39:17.925 in the world today, 00:39:17.925 --> 00:39:20.823 if you have just a little grain that's real, 00:39:20.823 --> 00:39:23.355 because you're going to get more. 00:39:23.355 --> 00:39:26.750 And eventually, you're going to have a lot. 00:39:26.750 --> 00:39:28.344 Isn't that wonderful? 00:39:28.344 --> 00:39:30.937 This little tiny thing of grace in the life 00:39:30.937 --> 00:39:32.766 of a true Christian; 00:39:32.766 --> 00:39:34.376 He says blessed are you. 00:39:34.376 --> 00:39:35.827 Now him that does not have, 00:39:35.827 --> 00:39:37.064 even what he thinks he has 00:39:37.064 --> 00:39:38.722 shall be taken away. 00:39:38.722 --> 00:39:40.383 Better to be the weakest Christian 00:39:40.383 --> 00:39:43.735 in the world, than the strongest looking 00:39:43.735 --> 00:39:48.783 false professor. 00:39:48.783 --> 00:39:51.608 Every branch in Me that bears fruit, 00:39:51.608 --> 00:39:53.103 He purges it; He cleanses it 00:39:53.103 --> 00:39:55.235 that it might bring forth more fruit. 00:39:55.235 --> 00:39:57.331 (incomplete thought) 00:39:57.331 --> 00:39:58.865 "Herein is My Father glorified, 00:39:58.865 --> 00:40:00.873 that you bear much fruit 00:40:00.873 --> 00:40:07.105 and so prove to be My disciples." 00:40:07.105 --> 00:40:10.740 Some 100, some 60, some 30, 00:40:10.740 --> 00:40:11.927 but all have fruit. 00:40:11.927 --> 00:40:12.933 They're all growing. 00:40:12.933 --> 00:40:14.586 They're all producing fruit. NOTE Paragraph 00:40:14.586 --> 00:40:16.967 Alright, last point. 00:40:16.967 --> 00:40:23.860 Final outcome of growth is harvest time. 00:40:23.860 --> 00:40:26.231 And He tells us that here. 00:40:26.231 --> 00:40:29.603 V. 29 "When the crop permits, 00:40:29.603 --> 00:40:33.327 he immediately puts in the sickle 00:40:33.327 --> 00:40:37.360 because the harvest has come." 00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:39.823 Why do you plant seed? 00:40:39.823 --> 00:40:44.178 You plant them in order to get a harvest. 00:40:44.178 --> 00:40:46.680 God is going to have a harvest, beloved. 00:40:46.680 --> 00:40:48.656 He's going to have a harvest. 00:40:48.656 --> 00:40:51.933 There's not going to be one missing. 00:40:51.933 --> 00:40:54.430 Think of this. 00:40:54.430 --> 00:40:58.136 Jesus says everyone that the Father's given Me 00:40:58.136 --> 00:41:00.108 will come to Me. 00:41:00.108 --> 00:41:01.424 And He that comes to Me, 00:41:01.424 --> 00:41:04.844 I will certainly not cast out. 00:41:04.844 --> 00:41:05.828 Why not? 00:41:05.828 --> 00:41:07.035 Why won't He cast us out? 00:41:07.035 --> 00:41:08.714 Well, because He says, I came down 00:41:08.714 --> 00:41:12.174 from Heaven to accomplish a specific purpose. 00:41:12.174 --> 00:41:13.505 I came down from Heaven 00:41:13.505 --> 00:41:14.757 not to do My own will, 00:41:14.757 --> 00:41:16.453 but the will of Him who sent Me. 00:41:16.453 --> 00:41:19.319 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, 00:41:19.319 --> 00:41:21.637 that of all that He has given Me, 00:41:21.637 --> 00:41:24.319 I lose only a few and then I raise up the rest 00:41:24.319 --> 00:41:25.626 at the last day. 00:41:25.626 --> 00:41:29.712 No, that's not what He said, is it? 00:41:29.712 --> 00:41:31.558 That of all that He has given Me, 00:41:31.558 --> 00:41:35.795 I lose not one! 00:41:35.795 --> 00:41:37.606 Think of this. 00:41:37.606 --> 00:41:39.396 Every plant that My Heavenly Father 00:41:39.396 --> 00:41:41.716 has not planted, shall be rooted up; 00:41:41.716 --> 00:41:44.609 but every plant that My Heavenly Father plants 00:41:44.609 --> 00:41:48.017 is going to make it all the way to the harvest. 00:41:48.017 --> 00:41:49.367 And there is a day coming - 00:41:49.367 --> 00:41:51.812 I think of it whenever we're together like this. 00:41:51.812 --> 00:41:54.477 Do you realize the hilarious joy 00:41:54.477 --> 00:41:56.025 we're going to have in seeing 00:41:56.025 --> 00:41:58.081 one another in heaven? 00:41:58.081 --> 00:42:00.089 What a day of rejoicing that will be! 00:42:00.089 --> 00:42:03.829 Why? Because it's the rejoicing of harvest. 00:42:03.829 --> 00:42:04.837 The crop's in. 00:42:04.837 --> 00:42:05.758 Up until that time, 00:42:05.758 --> 00:42:07.539 you're kind of gritting your teeth. 00:42:07.539 --> 00:42:10.137 I don't know if so-and-so's going to make it or not. 00:42:10.137 --> 00:42:11.848 I hope they're real. 00:42:11.848 --> 00:42:13.773 And there they are! 00:42:13.773 --> 00:42:14.828 You see them there - 00:42:14.828 --> 00:42:16.192 they're shining like the sun 00:42:16.192 --> 00:42:19.243 in the kingdom of their Father. 00:42:19.243 --> 00:42:23.521 What a day of rejoicing that will be! 00:42:23.521 --> 00:42:27.044 When the harvest is in. 00:42:27.044 --> 00:42:28.248 And we'll look back 00:42:28.248 --> 00:42:31.318 and it will be 10,000 times 00:42:31.318 --> 00:42:34.632 more wonderful than we ever thought 00:42:34.632 --> 00:42:36.390 as we see the providence of God 00:42:36.390 --> 00:42:41.415 in keeping His people and so on. 00:42:41.415 --> 00:42:44.279 There is a harvest coming. 00:42:44.279 --> 00:42:46.813 And it's going to be a great ingathering 00:42:46.813 --> 00:42:55.055 and a time of rejoicing. 00:42:55.055 --> 00:42:56.948 Another angel came out of the temple 00:42:56.948 --> 00:42:58.608 crying out with a loud voice 00:42:58.608 --> 00:43:00.144 to Him who sat on the cloud. 00:43:00.144 --> 00:43:01.628 Put in your sickel and reap 00:43:01.628 --> 00:43:04.273 because the hour to reap has come, 00:43:04.273 --> 00:43:07.191 because the harvest of the earth is ripe, 00:43:07.191 --> 00:43:10.393 and He who sat on the cloud 00:43:10.393 --> 00:43:12.788 (capital 'H' He) who sat on the cloud 00:43:12.788 --> 00:43:14.722 swung His sickle over the earth 00:43:14.722 --> 00:43:24.050 and the earth was reaped. 00:43:24.050 --> 00:43:25.847 Jesus is telling us the nature 00:43:25.847 --> 00:43:28.825 of the kingdom of God. 00:43:28.825 --> 00:43:30.347 And He's taking us back 00:43:30.347 --> 00:43:34.186 behind the scenes, 00:43:34.186 --> 00:43:38.307 and showing us how growth takes place. 00:43:38.307 --> 00:43:39.806 It takes place supernaturally 00:43:39.806 --> 00:43:42.877 by the power of God. 00:43:42.877 --> 00:43:46.446 And He will not have a crop failure. 00:43:46.446 --> 00:43:48.328 But He's going to take every one of us 00:43:48.328 --> 00:43:50.632 through all the stages necessary 00:43:50.632 --> 00:43:52.442 to get there. 00:43:52.442 --> 00:43:53.893 Amen.