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(Mark 4:26-29 KJV) And HE SAID, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed INTO {epi, on} the ground; [27] And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. [28] For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. [29] But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

(Mark 4:30-34 KJV) And HE SAID, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? [31] [It is] like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: [32] But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. [33] And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear [it]. [34] But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.

Those Who Are Saved Are Called To Be Like Jesus

When Adam was placed in the Garden East of Eden (Genesis 2:8), it was both a person and a place that were without sin. The Bible says that:

(Genesis 1:31 NKJV) Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed [it was] VERY GOOD…

Creation was literally heaven on earth. It was the Kingdom of God. The Bible says “out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that was pleasant to the sight and good for food” (Genesis 2:8-9). When the first Adam sinned and rejected the commandment of God, he brought spiritual death on both himself, his family, and on creation. Paul tells us:

(Romans 5:12 NKJV) … through ONE MAN SIN ENTERED THE WORLD, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because ALL SINNED–

Mankind died spiritually the day Adam sinned, and brought sin on creation itself. Everything went from being “very good” to “cursed”. God told Adam:

(Genesis 3:17-19 NKJV) Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “CURSED IS THE GROUND FOR YOUR SAKE; In toil you shall eat [of] it All the days of your life. [18] Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. [19] In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you [are], And to dust you shall return.”

What should have been Heaven on earth – the Kingdom of God – became the domain of sin and death. Whereas Adam and Eve were to rule the world for God, their fall to Satan gave him rule. The Apostle wrote:

(1 John 5:19 NKJV) We know that we are of God, and THE WHOLE WORLD LIES UNDER THE SWAY OF THE WICKED ONE.

From Adam until the coming of Christ people were:

Bondage to sin (John 8:34; Romans 6:16-20)
Spiritually blinded (1 Corinthians 2:14; 2 Corinthians 4:3-4)
Subject to corruption (Romans 8:20-22)
Fear and Shame (Genesis 3:7-10)
Separated from God (Genesis 3:8-10, 23-24)
A sin nature (Psalm 51:5; Ephesians 2:3; Romans 3:23)
Under condemnation of God (Romans 5:16-18)

The first Adam destroyed the Kingdom of God on the earth. But God was not going to leave it at that. God the Father sent a Second Adam to correct what the first Adam did. The Second Adam is Jesus Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 15:45 the Apostle quotes the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures of

Genesis 2:7 (KJV) the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, AND MAN BECAME A LIVING SOUL

Paul writes (1 Corinthians 15:45-49 KJV) And so it is written, The FIRST MAN ADAM WAS MADE A LIVING SOUL; the LAST ADAM WAS MADE A QUICKENING SPIRIT. [46] Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. [47] The first man [is] of the earth, earthy: the second man [is] the Lord from heaven. [48] As [is] the earthy, such [are] they also that are earthy: and as [is] the heavenly, such [are] they also that are heavenly. [49] And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.

The first Adam, the Adam that sinned, is where humanity started. In the first Adam we have physical life, but are born separated from God and spiritually dead. But

The Second Adam, Jesus Christ our Lord, came to quicken us, to give us spiritual life. The Second Adam is the Lord from Heaven. We who believe in Him and who have received Him as Lord and Savior will BEAR THE IMAGE OF THE HEAVENLY.

We who are saved are not to be like the first Adam, listening to the serpent, following the devilish desires. We who are saved are to be like the Second Adam. We are saved to be children of God. We are saved to be sons of God. Last Wednesday night God led us in our studies to:

(1 John 3:2-3 KJV) Beloved, NOW ARE WE THE SONS OF GOD, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we shall see Him as He is. [3] And EVERY MAN THAT HAS THIS HOPE IN {Jesus} PURIFIETH HIMSELF, EVEN AS JESUS IS PURE.

Those who are saved are called to be like Jesus. We are to walk with Jesus daily, just as Adam walked with Jesus daily before he broke the Law of God. We are to walk in love with one another. We read this on Wednesday:

(1 John 3:10-12 KJV) In this the CHILDREN OF GOD ARE MANIFEST, and THE CHILDREN OF THE DEVIL: whosoever DOETH NOT RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT OF GOD, NEITHER HE THAT LOVETH NOT HIS BROTHER. [11] For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that WE SHOULD LOVE ONE ANOTHER. [12] Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

A person says, “I am a Christian”. Fine. Are you DOING RIGHTEOUSNESS. I’m not asking what you’re NOT doing. The Pharisees were big on what they were NOT doing. “Teacher, I DON’T MURDER, I DON’T COMMIT ADULTERY, I DON’T STEAL, I DON’T CURSE GOD”. Well, that’s fine. We see what you’re not doing. But are you DOING RIGHTEOUSNESS? To DO RIGHTEOUSNESS means to DO what God says do. To DO RIGHTEOUSNESS means to LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Are we doing righteousness? Are we following Jesus? Are we acting as sons of God?

Sons of God walk with God: (Romans 8:14 KJV) For as many as are LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD, THEY ARE THE SONS OF GOD.

Sons of God shine for God: (Philippians 2:15 KJV) That ye may be blameless and harmless, THE SONS OF GOD, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom YE SHINE AS LIGHTS IN THE WORLD

Sons of God walk in power: (John 1:12 KJV) But as many as received {Jesus}, to them gave He POWER TO BECOME THE SONS OF GOD, [even] to them that believe on His name:

Adam Walked In A Perfect Kingdom And Gave The Kingdom To Satan. Christians Walk With The Second Adam, And Live To Glorify God Our Savior

When Jesus came to this earth, He knew what His mission was. He stayed focused on the mission. He never took His eyes off of what He had to do. Jesus came as the Second Adam to undo what the first Adam did. Jesus came to bring the Kingdom of God to this fallen world.

When I was in the Air Force, we knew what our mission was. We knew who the enemy was, and knew what we were supposed to do to defeat that enemy. Sadly, if you ask most Christians today “What is the mission of the Church?” or “What is YOUR mission?”, very few have a clue. That’s not Jesus’ fault. It is the fault of modern pastoring that focuses on noses and nickles. I don’t see any place where Jesus focused on crowds. He focused on planting the Word of God, sharing the Gospel message. We previously studied the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9). In that Parable Jesus said:

Mark 4:14 (KJV) The sower SOWETH THE WORD

The seed that the sower sows is not the word of man, not the word of Satan, but the Word of God. Specifically it is the Word of God that emphasizes that which Jesus Christ has taught us. The whole point of the Parable of the Sower is that the Word of God is sown indiscriminately as you are going about your day. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus spoke of four grounds where the seed is sown – four types of hearts:

Mark 4:15 The heart possessed of Satan
Mark 4:16-17 The shallow “serve me” heart
Mark 4:18-19 The unrepentant heart

In each of those hearts, the Gospel does not lasting good. The person who hears the Word, hears it as the first Adam did, and does with it just as the first Adam did. But then you have the repentant, ready to receive heart:

(Mark 4:20 KJV) And these are they which are SOWN ON GOOD GROUND; such as HEAR THE WORD, and RECEIVE IT, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

Those who are repentant, who are broken and ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus, receive the Word. We cannot make anyone receive the Word of God. We cannot coerce Christians. It doesn’t work. God must prepare the heart, but Beloved, we are to sow the seed, to tell others of Jesus, to let them see Jesus in us and in our actions. We are not responsible for growing or cultivating the seed. We merely sow.

(Mark 4:26-29 KJV) And HE SAID, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; [27] And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. [28] For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. [29] But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

Word Study: The Parable of the Sower is followed by the Parable of the Growing Seed. The Parable starts with “HE SAID”. This is the Greek word ἔλεγεν (elegen), which is the imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular form of λέγω (legō – to say, speak). The imperfect tense denotes continuous or ongoing action. Though translated as “HE SAID”, it is better translated as …

Jesus WENT ON TO SAY

Jesus wasn’t just rattling off these Parables about the Kingdom of God. He was preaching the mission of the Church, of HIS Church. He was telling us what He wants US as believers in Him to do.

Mark 4:26 …And {Jesus} KEPT SAYING, The Kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground

Jesus is following up the Parable of the Four Soils and the Sower with another Parable about a Sower – but this time the focus is on the SEED. The Sower is responsible for scattering the seed. That is his mission. So the Sower scatters the seed, then

(Mark 4:27 KJV) And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, HE KNOWETH NOT HOW.

The Sower does his mission. Then he goes home, and SLEEPS. He’s done his job. He can’t make the seed do anything, and he does not prepare the ground. The Sower trusts the process. When the Church at Corinth found fault with Paul, comparing him to other preachers who they considered better, Paul told them:

(1 Corinthians 3:4-9 LSB) For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not [mere] men? [5] What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? SERVANTS THROUGH WHOM YOU BELIEVED, even as the Lord gave to each one. [6] I planted, Apollos watered, but GOD CAUSES THE GROWTH. [7] So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but GOD WHO CAUSES THE GROWTH. [8] Now HE WHO PLANTS AND HE WHO WATERS ARE ONE, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. [9] For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

The Sower is to sow the seed, to share Jesus with others. But we need not toss and turn, for there is nothing we can do to make the seed grow. We do what we are to do, then we “SLEEP”. God works while the Sower is inactive. The miracle of life is beyond our power.

Why is one person saved when we share the Gospel, and another is not? Why does the seed grow differently in different people? Jesus said, “The Sower KNOWETH NOT HOW”. Spiritual growth is mysterious. Jesus told Nicodemus:

(John 3:8 LSB) The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but DO NOT KNOW where it comes from and where it is going; SO IS EVERYONE WHO HAS BEEN BORN OF THE SPIRIT.

Billy Graham didn’t save people. God saves people. Billy just told them about Jesus. He stayed true to the Word of God. He trusted the process, and glorified Jesus. Billy stayed on track with his mission. Billy said:

“The Bible is the Word of God. It is not merely a book of history, a book of theology, or a collection of moral precepts. It is God’s message to the human heart. … The Bible is the compass that points us to the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Sower sows the seed, the Word of God. We share Jesus with those around us. Then we rest. We do not get discouraged.

(2 Thessalonians 3:13 KJV) But ye, brethren, BE NOT WEARY IN WELL DOING.

You cannot tell when the seed will sprout, nor even if it will sprout. But you are to sow.

(Mark 4:28-29 KJV) For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. [29] But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

God imparts life as we share the Word of God. We are to sow. The Gospel is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). The seed of the Gospel is sown, and if the ground is good then there will be new birth, “not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).

We are the sower. God is the Grower. He alone knows the time of harvest. We are to be faithful in sowing, not judging.

One commentary I found noted:

“Human ingenuity, emotional manipulation, man centered techniques, market-driven strategies, legislation, & coercion can’t create new life in the heart of a sinner. Regeneration is only by the Spirit of God (Ephesians 2:1–4; Titus 3:5). Though we’re called to faithfully proclaim the message, we can take no credit when someone responds in repentant faith (1 Corinthians 3:6–7). God’s kingdom work is ultimately His work & He’ll sovereignly bring it to pass. This doesn’t mean the sower abandons his work or is uninterested in what takes place. It means the seed must be allowed its appointed course, as the process of growth advances toward a harvest that’s coming. {We} cannot cause the seed to sprout & grow. We must leave that entirely to the One who created the seed, who knows it thoroughly, & activates it.”

Our Judgment Means Nothing. We Are Just To Be Faithful Sowers.

In the final Parable, the Parable of the Mustard Seed, Jesus tells us to stop making foolish judgments and JUST DO AS GOD SAID. When Adam began to make judgments apart from the Word of God, it wasn’t long before he destroyed Paradise and gave creation over to the Evil One. Sin reigns because Adam chose to judge God’s Word rather than to do it.

(Mark 4:30-32 KJV) And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? [31] [It is] like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is LESS THAN ALL THE SEEDS THAT BE IN THE EARTH: [32] But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

We often waste time making judgments, rather than just sowing the seed. The smallest seed can make the biggest change. The mustard seed is about the size of a grain of sand, the smallest of seeds that Jesus’ audience of that day knew of. If that seed is planted – small as it is – and it springs up, it will grow into a large, tree like shrub, sometimes 12 feet tall or higher.

Think about Jesus. He wasn’t born in a palace. He was born in a manger. He wasn’t born in Jerusalem. He was born in a tiny town called Nazareth. None of those whom Jesus called as Apostles was highly educated outside of Paul. All of the Apostles were broken, unknown and weak people.

After Jesus’ resurrection, only 120 people gathered in the upper room to pray until Pentecost. That’s a small church. But when those 120 did as Jesus told them to do, went out and shared the seed of the Gospel, they became 3000 souls added to the Church.

When we do what God tells us to do, the Kingdom of God grows. When we do not sow the seed, nothing happens. We sow the seed. We do what we can to glorify our King Jesus. We trust the process, and follow the Lord. We may not seed the harvest in our lifetime, but if we continue to sow the seed, the Kingdom will grow. Pastor R.C. Sproul wrote:

“We don’t know about the results of our lives & words. We have no idea how powerful a simple word can be. God can & does use the faithful living & witness of His Word, though we may never see the effect our words have. That’s the way the kingdom is. We often don’t know what God does with our service. We plant the seed, go to bed, and, while we sleep, God germinates the seed so that life grows & eventually produces a harvest. We need to forget about trying to see the fruit of our service immediately. It doesn’t matter if we ever see it in this life. We’re called to take the light & let it shine, then let God do with it whatever He pleases.”

For the glory of our Lord Jesus. Amen.