UNCONSCIOUS GROWTH

Mark 4:26-29

Morning Meditation 3/16/16

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”

The words “And he said” is an imperfect active indicative verb. The imperfect tense is continuous action in the past. This simply means that he kept on saying these things to his disciples. This idea is repeated action. So Jesus continually repeated the teaching of the truths stated here. Why are these truths so important that Jesus went back over them again and again? Well, there are some things that need to be repeated. We do not learn them easily. And there are some reasons that will be revealed in his teaching here.

The words “So is the kingdom of God” set the stage for the remainder of the teaching in these verses. It is not “So will be the kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God of which he is speaking here was in existence at the time he was saying this. The word “is” (esti) is a present tense verb. It is speaking of a kingdom existing at the time of this teaching. The words “kingdom of God” here refers to the same kingdom of which Jesus speaks when he says to Nicodemus in John 3:5: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”

The words “As if a man should cast seen into the ground” is the language of illustration. The words “as if a man” is making this action comparative. The activity in the kingdom is being compared to the work of a farmer.

The words “And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how” describe the following: He sows the seed. There are things we do as we serve the Lord that is being compared to sowing seed. After the seed is sown our action is being described as going through the natural process of life. After the seed is sown, there is nothing that we do to produce growth. God has made natural laws that take over from there. The seed must go into the ground and die. It must go through a natural process of growth that the one who sows the seed can only wait to see. It is marvelous but it happens in real life today. There is just so much that the seed sower can do. Then he must trust the laws of the kingdom to take if from there.

The words “he knoweth not how” means that faith without rational understanding must be exercised. Jesus says that there are some things you will not understand. One of the things is the growth (which speaks of progress) of the kingdom of God. We do know about our responsibility of sowing the seed. What we want to do is to control the growth. Man wants to control the outcome! Jesus knew our nature. So he repeated this teaching to his disciples over and over again. This is the reason many have taken the responsibility for the apparent growth of the church. When I take responsibility for the growth of the church, I will do what it takes to make it happen. That is the reason there are so many seminars on church growth today. Remember, there was such a need for the teaching of this growth process that Jesus repeated his teaching over and over again. One of the most difficult things that a sinful son of Adam has to do is to live with the unexplained. This is the reason for the world’s approach to where we came from. What is our origin? These brilliant scientist are really intelligent. They tell us we are fools for believing Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” And they say we are really smart to believe them when they avoid God and teach that we evolved and it started with a big bang. Well, when they can put some metal in a bag with a stick of dynamite and set it off and show me where this explosion can produce a watch that will keep perfect time, I will give what they say serious thought.

The words “For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself...” mean that once the seed is sown another power outside the sower of the seed takes over and all the sower of the seed can do is wait. Now he can go to work again when the time of the harvest takes place. Our text says, “...he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” He can sow and he can partake of the harvest but he must live with what happens in between by faith. If he were to try to do something with what happens in between, he would only interfere and damage if not destroy the possibility of growth.

Now lets take a look at some conclusions. Jesus is giving an illustration of the kingdom of God and its growth. There is something we can do. We can sow seed. The seed is the gospel. It is our testimony. We can witness to others about what God has done for us. But after we have sown the seed we must wait for the unexplained part of this passage to take place. I speak here of the work of evangelization. There is sowing and growth that takes place in evangelism. We can sow and rejoice when there is an evident harvest. But what happens in between, we must leave to God. His laws operate there. If we try to help in the process, we produce a false harvest. And the fruit of that harvest will go sour.

Then there is an unconscious growth in our own lives. We can take in the seed of God’s word but we must leave what it produces to the work of the Holy Spirit to conform us to the image of Christ. I can take in the Word of God but what that intake produces, I must leave to the Lord. But I can know by faith that if I sow, he will produce a harvest that I will be able to enjoy. Jesus said, “...The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life,” (John 6:63). There are times when I read the Word that it seems to be doing no apparent good. The soil of my rational mind seems to resist the sowing. What should I do in a case like this? Sow the seed of God’s word. He has said in Isaiah 55:11: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” God reveals to faith the truth that his word will accomplish his purposes. That is out of our control. So, when we take in the Word of God, it will produce growth even though “he knoweth not how.” Read James 5:7. Remember, we must trust God with what is out of our control.

God bless you.

In Christ

Bro. White