Patient But Faithful - Mark 4: 26-29

1:04But how is the kingdom? How could it be described? Does it even matter if there are so many people that think different things, right? Well, it certainly mattered to Jesus what you think about the kingdom, what it looks like, how would you picture it? And he really wanted us to have a correct interpretation and answer to this question. How is the kingdom? So much so that a lot of our New Testament deals with the kingdom of God. A lot of the Gospels, a lot of Jesus, the red letter, a lot of that red letter, the parables, are about the kingdom and how it looks like. So he preached parable after parable, describing different aspects, different characteristics of the kingdom. And as you're there in Mark 4:26 through 29, Jesus here speaks a parable that helps us understand a little better how the kingdom of God is. Now, just to set up the scene a little bit, let me point out what has been going on in Jesus' ministry so far. You can be looking around from Mark chapter 1, just looking at the headings in your Bible.

2:19He has been proclaiming himself to be the king. He has demonstrated that with many undeniable proofs, miracle after miracle, showing authority over different aspects of life and nature. See, power over demons, power over nature, all sorts of miracles demonstrating that he is. He's actually the promised king. Actually, you also, Mark starts with John the Baptist, who's preparing the way for this king. And he's been proclaiming this message, and it looks like he's kind of successful. There are a lot of crowds surrounding him, but his family certainly doesn't think so, as we see in chapter 3. Mary does believe, but his brothers do not, as we read there, especially verse 21, if you see that his family heard it, they went out to seize him when he was preaching, for they were saying he's out of his mind. The leadership of Israel were rejecting him, and they were attributing, people didn't know what to do with all the signs and his message. So the best they could come up with was, well, he does all these miracles with the power of Satan. So that comes with Jesus starts talking about the sin against the Holy Spirit and all that.

3:52So after that, there's a little bit of a shift in how Jesus approaches the masses. He stops talking plainly, openly to them, but he starts talking in parables. And the purpose of the parable was to say something which the masses wouldn't understand, but he would then explain to the disciples what those parables mean. They are parables that are plain for everyone to know. And I think we've got to make a distinction between those two. There are parables that, yes, there were plain illustrations so everyone could understand. What he was saying. But there were some that Jesus, especially the parables of the kingdom, in order to hide that truth, in order to hide that light from the masses and make them twice condemned for rejecting him, so he hid those truths and he will say something like the parable of the sower. And to the everyday, to everyone, he will be just talking about a normal day at work. Someone went out, he sowed, some fell on good ground, some didn't, some grew, some didn't.

5:04Next parable. And people will be like, okay, yeah, that's normal. What's the point? Well, then he will go back to his disciples and explain, hey, the seed is the word of God, and the sower is the preacher of the word, etc. So he changes tactics, and we see that he talks about, in chapter 4, we see many parables. He starts with that parable of the sower. And with that, he specifically wants to tell that not every person who hears the word, the message of the kingdom, will receive it because of the nature of the heart. And if you remember that parable, there are four different soils, and some rejected, and there's one soil that is the good soil that receives the word and produces fruit. There's that lamp under a basket, that parable, which I understand it to be that the truth that he's telling will not be kept in secret.

6:01The parable of the measure that we see later that tells us that receptive hearts will get more revelation, but hearts who reject the truth will not receive anything. And then we come to the parable that we're going to be studying today. And let's read that together. So, Mark chapter 4, verses 26 through 29. And he said, The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, he sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the signal, because the harvest has come.

6:49Now, the main point of this parable to me is that from the time of the spreading of the word and the coming of the kingdom, there is an appointed time of growth that is exclusively under God's control. So, what I want you, and we're going to go through that a little slower, so don't get afraid of that, that I just said a lot of things. It looks like a super deep theological. But I want us to see from this parable that God is sovereign over the growth and the timing of His kingdom so that we may trust Him.

7:28So, we're going to see three of the. Essential, and I have the PowerPoint there, three essential elements of this parable so that we can understand it better. One is the first essential element is the secondary role of the farmer. We'll see the sure growth of the seed, and finally, we'll see the swift arrival of the harvest. So, the first essential element, the secondary role of the farmer. We read that the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how.

8:06So, who is the man? I think sometimes we need to understand what the parables are referring to, and the key to a lot of this is in the beginning of the parable, in the beginning of chapter 4, when Jesus explains the parable of the sower. And he says that the sower is the preacher of the word. The seed is the word, the gospel, the message of the kingdom, and the ground are the hearers of the word. And Jesus Himself says that how can you understand the rest of the parables if you don't understand this one? So, there's something to be gleaned from that. So, what is the man doing? Well, he is casting the seed. He's spreading the seed. The same word is for broadcasting. So, it gives that idea of sending far away.

8:55So, the word is going out. And that will be how. People will sow back then. I think they still do that sometimes. They will just throw the seed, throw the seed, throw the seed. So, what does this mean? Well, it means that every believer must be faithful to spread the Word of God, right? The process of growth and ultimate harvest cannot begin unless the farmer scatters the seed. We're going to see that the seed sprouts, it grows. There's a lot of that that is not under anyone's control but God's, but that starts with the casting of the seed. We'll come back to this later.

9:39So, we see the faithfulness of the farmer. He's faithful. He does it. He's casting a seed. But we also see that his inability. He's unable to intervene in the process of the growth. He sleeps, he rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how. So, there's passing of time. He goes about his everyday routine of life. Day and night passes. He goes to sleep. He wakes up again. This doesn't mean that he's abandoning work, but there are things he understands he has some limitations.

10:18After casting the seed, there's nothing else in his power. The power is realized in the seed over there. So there's nothing else he can do. He can stay up all night. Think about the seed and be turning his bed, thinking, How can I make this seed grow a little better? He can just run around the ground where the seed was and bang on a little drum and pray for the rain or anything. That will make it work. That will make it grow.

10:50He can talk this seed. He can put Mozart to the seed. I don't know. There are different things that people do nowadays for better growth. I don't know if you have any tips for gardening. We just put some flowers over there in our backyard. I'm praying that they take on. But some seem that won't, but hopefully they will. Anyways, he knows not how, which implies that he's not the cause of the growth. If he doesn't know how he grows, he's not the one who's doing it. There's something else. I mean, better yet, there's someone else who is causing, he's producing the growth. And that's someone, we know who it is, right? It's the Lord. 1 Corinthians 3:6 to 7, you don't have to turn there, but it makes it clear that I planted, says Paul, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The context, of course, is a little different, but the principle remains the same. God is the one who gives growth, regardless of who's scattering the seed. So the sower contributes. Contributes absolutely nothing toward the growth of the seed, which is very important for us to understand as we spread the seed of the gospel.

12:10We cannot manufacture any response to the Word of God. And hopefully, you are telling other people at campus or at work or people that you come by, you're sharing the gospel with them, you're sharing the word with them. You may know every answer. And hopefully, you do. You're very good at studying the word and be able to answer questions from the critics and the people who are actually asking questions sincerely. And that's all good. That's not me, right? Okay, good.

12:50So that's all good. And we should strive to be excellent in our presentation, in our knowledge of Scripture, but that is not the cause of the growth. You may answer every question, you may be very persuasive. You could be a very good persuasive evangelist. That doesn't mean that that's causing the growth or to sprout. The power resides in the seed, and the one that makes it grow is God. It's not on you, on me, and that's good on the other side, because if you feel like I'm not very good at this, this is my first time telling somebody about Christ, or you feel very insecure, it's not about you. You're not the one causing the growth, it it's God.

13:34That's why here at Emmanuel Baptist Church we don't sing Just As I Am seventy uh twenty seven times after you know the the preacher the preacher uh ends his sermon and an altar call that lasts thirty minutes, because it's not about us. Uh you can do it twenty-nine minutes, thirty minutes, thirty-one minutes, another minute won't change anything. Uh it's because it's not about us. It's it's God who produces the growth. Um so that's encouraging because you don't have to be an expert. Uh we're faithful. That's the that's the important thing. We're faithful, but our role is secondary. We just spread the seed, we just do it, do the best we can, and God is the one who does it. Uh it it's humbling as well, right? Because our efforts are secondary. We're faithful, but we don't rely on our efforts because God is the one who produces the growth. So we we're seeing the the farmer's uh secondary role of the farmer. He's faithful in he's scattering the seed. Uh he's unable to manufacture growth, but but he's also patient. He's waiting for the harvest patiently. Um so he goes about his everyday routine of life. Uh he sleeps, rises, night and day, uh until harvest comes. So he cannot rush the harvest, he cannot intervene in the harvest. We're going to see what I believe the harvest to be in a couple minutes. But we see the first essential element of this parable, which is the secondary role of the farmer. He is simply faithful. He scatters the seed. That's all he can do. He cannot intervene in the process of growth, so he needs to remain patient until harvest.

15:30The second essential element that we'll see today of this parable is the sure growth of the seed. It is sure. It will grow. So we read there that the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how. Verse 28, the earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, and then the full grain in the ear. So the emphasis here is that it's not about the farmer's effort. It produces by itself. We know that God's providence is the one that makes the seed grow. So let me take you now for a second to the land of Israel. And mentally. So the farmer is absolutely dependent on God's provision and His sovereignty for the success of His crop, because in Israel, you depend on the Province. On rain. You can all go and water the plant. Water, well, especially back in the day, today, yes, they have irrigation systems and all that, but back in the day, there weren't any of those. And the land of Israel was specially set up by God. He Himself says it in the Pentateuch, that the land of Israel will be unique because it just drinks the dew of heaven and the rains. And you're absolutely dependent year after year on God's providence. If there's no rain, there's no food, there's no food, people die. And starvation was a reality year by year. And God said, if you don't, to the people of Israel, if you don't, if you stop following me, if you go after the Bales, rain's going to stop. And that was very meaningful. It's not like you can just go and grow a hose. And, you know, there's nothing like that. So the farmer had to wait for the former rains during the latter September, early October, and that will make the ground soften. If not, good luck, breaking ground. So you needed to wait until that rain would break ground, and then he will prepare the soil. He will break the ground and scatter the seed and all that we're seeing here. Then he was dependent on God to send plenty of rain to produce.

18:01So that the seed could actually sprout and grow. It needed a lot of rain, a lot of water. And then he was dependent on the latter rain, which was sent in March, April, because that allowed actually for the fruit to ripen. So there was a lot, a lot of dependence on rain and a lot of dependence on God. Sadly, Israel many times wouldn't be faithful to the Lord and would pray to Baal, which was supposedly the God of rain and storms and productivity and all that. So the farmer could not go out, water his own plants. He was specially dependent on God. So what's the point?

18:47There's a difference here between the parable here of the sower, that seed, he scatters the seed, and there are four different types of soil, right? Do you remember that one? So there's a difference because the highlight, what's highlighted there is there are different kinds of hearts, right? There are different types of people. Some will receive, some will not. Here, the emphasis is on the sure inevitable, unfailing. It's divinely enabled sprouting and growing of the seed. It will produce. It will produce. Yes, there are different kinds of people. Some will receive, some will not, but. It will. It will work. The word will work. So we can be confident. We can be confident that God will grow the seed. Next time you share the word with a co-worker, with a student, with a fellow, I don't know, someone who's next to you in the plane, whenever you get the chance, you can be sure that God's Word is at work and He will make it sprout. You can share the Word with anybody. It doesn't matter if you see, oh, this guy looks ready for the gospel. You know, He has that look. Well, it doesn't matter if He looks ready for the gospel to you or not. It doesn't matter how good you feel at sharing the Word.

20:16God has the power. He has the power. He is ultimately responsible for the growth of that seed. You just spread it. When dealing with rejection, apparent failure, you feel, ah, I didn't do it right. I should have said something different. Well, yes, we need to think about what we say, what we do, but we can be confident that God is at work. So as we look at the sure growth of the seed, we discover that the seed's growth is divinely enabled, and also the seed's growth requires time.

20:51We see that first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. I think that this list suggests that There's a necessary process of development that may not be hurried, skipped over, cannot be delayed. And just as the seed has an appointed time of growth and maturing between the spreading of the seed and the harvest, a time that cannot be altered, there is an appointed time between the spreading of the word and the coming of the kingdom of God. And we can be confident of the coming of the kingdom as we're confident about the coming of a harvest. If the seed was planted, it will produce. The harvest will come. The kingdom will come. 2 Peter 3, you don't have to turn there, but I think you know this passage well: that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, Where is the promise of his coming? The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. So, as we consider this essential element, the sure growth of the seed, I admit that I'm not very familiar with the agricultural world. I mean, I had to really study this to know what months happened this and the rest of it. rain and then the sprouting of the seed. I didn't grow up in a farm. Maybe some of you did, but I I didn't. So I I cannot truly relate with this. What I can relate though, and and this is another analogy that that Jesus makes comparing the coming of the kingdom, is is the birth of a child.

22:50My son Joseph turns one today, so we're very happy about that. And we've been celebrating him a little bit and the other my parents are coming this week and we're gonna celebrate him a little more. But I remember, I remember the news that we were having a baby and it was so exciting. Just waiting for that time. And you know it's coming. But after you know, after conception, everything is pretty hands-off. Literally. You have to wait. There's nothing else you can do. Nothing will help develop the children fast the child faster. I mean, you can sing to him all you want. You can put the I don't know if someone puts the the radio here or I don't know. There's so many different things done today. But I mean, maybe he will grow up better. I don't know. I don't know any of that child development thing.

23:50But you cannot rush it. You know? The nine months have to pass. Sometimes a little earlier, sometimes a little later. But it's not because of you. There's something that has to happen. There's some development. There's some time that needs to pass, and there's nothing you can do. So is with the kingdom of God. We're faithful, we spread the seed, and we're patient. So, that second essential element of this parable is the sure growth of the seed. The seed is growing by God's sovereign power and will require time until it's time for the harvest, which is that third element, essential element that we're seeing in this parable to understand it, which is the swift arrival of the harvest. We see that in verse 29 that says, But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. Now, I've been talking about the harvest as the coming of Christ and in his kingdom, and I know that some will take it differently. Some interpret this parable as referring to a personal maturing of the believer, and I have a hard time thinking that. And my argument is the language never the language of harvesting in the Bible never refers to reaching the end of the believer's life.

25:20When you see the concept a lot, well, you see the concept of harvest in conversion once you get converted. Luke 10, 2 says, and then Jesus said to them, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Or John 4:35, do you not say, There are yet four months when comes the harvest? Then comes the harvest. Luke, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. So he's saying we're ready. So the harvest of souls.

25:59What makes me think a lot about harvest, about the second coming with the kingdom, is a language that everyone would have been very, very, very familiar. Which is, Jesus says, but when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. Now listen to Joel 3, 13, 16. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near, in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw, they're shining. The Lord roars from Zion and utters his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earthquake. But the Lord is a refuge to his people, a stronghold to the people of Israel. Hosea in Hosea 6, 11 says, For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed when I restore the force. Fortunes of my people when I would heal Israel, which is talking to a future period of restoration.

27:08I see Matthew thirteen, another parable talking about the peril of the weeds and the wheat. So, you know, you cannot just come and decide who's who. We're going to wait because there are wheats among the wheats. So let both grow together, says the Lord, until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. And the enemy who sowed the weeds is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. And to seal the deal for me at least, Revelation 14, 14 to 15 says, Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud, one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe. So those passages, at least to me, it makes a good argument that generally reaping and the harvest has to has this eschatological, if you wish, this end times. Picture of harvest. A harvest is coming. The good will go with the Lord. The bad will be burned. So that's how I take the harvest. The harvest is talking about the coming of Christ with his kingdom. The king comes and he establishes his kingdom. But notice the coming back here to Mark, not to take it too far away.

28:58Notice the sense of urgency and immediacy in contrast with the process of the growth. The process of the growth, you know, you're waiting, you're patient, you're there, there's nothing you can do. But then it says, but swiftly. What's the word that I'm looking for? Verse 29. It says, but when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle. So it's swift, it's fast. And many parables speak about this. For example, in Luke 17, 26 through 30, it says, just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking, and marrying, and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting, building. But on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all. So will it be on this day? Day when the Son of Man is revealed. So it talks about swiftness. When he comes, it's fast. Things are developing quickly. So if you didn't understand what I said until now, once God deems it's time, it is time. The kingdom, his kingdom will come swiftly. I think that's the point that we see here. One God deems it's time, his kingdom will come swiftly. And now you may be thinking, what's the connection then? You know, we were talking about spreading the seed and evangelism and all those things. What's the connection between the spreading of the word and the kingdom? Well, let's go back into the context of Mark. Jesus came to his own announcing what? The kingdom. He's spreading the word. He's spreading the word of the kingdom. The king is here.

30:53And everyone expected immediate, widespread acceptance of the king at the beginning of the kingdom. That was the expectation. The king comes, Jesus comes, the Messiah comes, and he will establish his kingdom right away. And that was what every Jew was expecting. Bye-bye, Rome, and let's have our own kingdom. Well, superficially, the crowds made it look like the word was accepted, that the time for the kingdom had come. It's here. But Jesus knew that that acceptance was very superficial. The crowds were there, but they were there for the fish and the bread. They were there for the... Miracle of the day. They were excited to get grandma healed or anything like that. But there was no real, true acceptance of Jesus' claims. They were there just seeking their own good.

31:49So Jesus reveals to his disciples that there will be a divinely appointed time from the spreading of the word and the coming of the kingdom. That's what I understand from this passage. Again and again, the prophet spoke about the time when Israel will finally repent, believing her Messiah. Romans 11 tells us that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles have come in. In this way, all Israel will be saved. Zechariah 12. When they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child. There will be a time of tribulation, and then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with him, and the Lord will be king over all the earth. I've been reading extracts from Zechariah 14.

32:44Well, we've come to the end of this parable and to the end of the time together that we have studying as well. So I'd like to conclude this study by way of application. Okay, so we've seen that. The first essential element was the secondary role of the farmer. And from that, we get that we need to be faithful, right? We must be faithful. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him in whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?

33:25So that was Romans 10:14. So we need to be faithful. The seed won't sprout unless it's cast. So there's a faithfulness. There's a secondary role. We're not the whole deal, but we spread the seed. When was the last time that you spread the seed? Then we have the second essential element, the sure growth of the seed. And from there, we can get, as a way of application, we need to trust. We need to be trusting, resting in God's power, because He's the one who produces the growth. It's not about us. We don't fear what's going to happen because it's in God's hands.

34:10That gives us confidence to go, to spread the seed. And finally, from our third essential element from this passage, the swift arrival of the harvest, I think we can clearly see that we need to be patient, expecting the Lord patiently. Just as James in James 5, 7 to 8 says, Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it until he receives the early and the late rains. You also be patient. Not like the Thessalonians who they say, oh, well, the Lord is coming, so I don't know. I'm going to stop working, I'm going to depend on someone else. No, we don't become lazy like some of the Thessalonians became or apathetic.

35:10So the coming of the kingdom of God is God-given, so that allows us to be patient, to be comforted. We cannot rush it, we do not intervene. We wait. We wait patiently until His coming. So be patient, but faithful. Scattering the seed, trusting in God's power to produce growth, and waiting patiently for His coming. Now meanwhile, will you scatter the seed? Let's pray. Father, we love you and we are thankful for your word that is powerful. The power is there. And give us boldness to spread it. Give us Help us to be faithful, to not be shy, but to preach the word in season and out of season.

36:11Thank you so much for this assurance that you are at work when we're trying to get the word out on the streets, and friends and family members to know that we are not alone, but you're the one who where the power relies. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.