Tonight, I invite you to turn to Isaiah 55 as we read together that chapter, Isaiah 55. And we read that in connection with the text, the parable of our Lord that we find in Mark 4, Mark 4, verses 26 to 29. So, Isaiah 55 and Mark 4. First of all, Isaiah 55, hear now the word of the Lord. Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me. Hear me that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. See, I have made him a witness to the peoples a leader and commander of the peoples. Surely you will summon nations you know not and nations that do not know you will hasten to you because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has endowed you with splendor. Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the evil man His thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord and He will have mercy on Him and to our God for He will freely pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briars the myrtle will grow. This will be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign which will not be destroyed. I'm turning over to Mark chapter 4, verses 26 to 29. He that is Jesus also said, This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scattered seed on the ground, night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself, the soil produces grain. First the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it because the harvest has come. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, how do we grow the church? See, that's the question that many have asked, especially in our day of the church growth movement. How do we grow the church? What do we do to bring people in in large quantities and to accommodate and to provide whatever it takes to keep them here in our church? How do we do that? Indeed, beloved, it must be our desire to grow. First of all, spiritually. But it must also be our desire to grow numerically because we know that our Lord Jesus Christ will not return again until every last elect child of God has been brought to faith. And therefore, it must be our desire that the church of Jesus Christ would grow, that many would be added day by day, and if it is God's will, that they might even be added here in this place. Yet even though we live in a day when church growth success is measured largely by the size of the facility or the number of services that one congregation may have on Saturday night or Sunday or by the number of programs a church has to offer, or even by the number of names on the membership roster, we know that none of those things points to true growth. You see, people of God, the church is not a social club. with a purpose to keep members entertained and amused by a variety of programs. Programs are wonderful. Programs are necessary in their proper place. And we are blessed with many here. But the church is the assembly of God's people who by faith believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who gather together to be nourished and strengthened in that most holy faith. And therefore, the proper question is how does God grow His church? How does He bring some to faith in this man Jesus? I mean, really, it seems kind of ridiculous, doesn't it? If you think about it from the point of view of the world. It seems kind of ridiculous. We are called to believe in this One called Jesus whom we are told died on the cross. who suffered the death of criminals. We are called to believe in this One whom we are told rose again from the dead. He came out of the grave. Well, who of us has ever seen anything like that? It's impossible, right? We are called to believe in this One whom the Bible says ascended. His body literally was lifted up from the earth as if it was weightless. He ascended into heaven. What about gravity? We are called to believe in this One whom we are told has earned eternal security for you and me. But who really knows? You see, it's really all so unbelievable. So then how does God bring some to believe the unbelievable? With this parable, Jesus teaches an important aspect of the kingdom of God, that kingdom of which the church is a part. as Jesus explains the hidden quality of kingdom growth. And he does so, first of all, through the mystery of the seed's growth. Now, just like many places in Scripture, our Lord teaches this important kingdom truth using a horticultural example, an example of plant life, plant growth. Now, we know that man has gained over time, he has gained a vast knowledge about many things, but especially when it comes to plant growth. And of course, that includes crop rotation and pesticides and fertilizers and hybrids. And of course, in our day especially, in a particular way, genetics. As I just learned last weekend back in northwest Iowa, that because of such powerful genetics these days, the corn harvest and the beans, they give such a high yield and much less loss than ever before. Man has gained so much, such vast knowledge when it comes to plant life, but it's still a mystery, isn't it? The actual process of growth with the exact reproducing of cells from seed to plant to fruit to more seeds for next year's planting is still mysterious. Even the boys and girls, we know what is to happen. We know that it happens. But we really don't know exactly how it happens. As Jesus says in verses 26 and 27, this is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground night and day whether he sleeps or gets up. The seed sprouts and grows though he does not know how. When it comes to plant life, we know that there are many outside forces, factors working on that seed. That seed, of course, is planted and the earth takes it in. The earth surrounds it. It covers it. It becomes a home for that seed. The rains come and nourish that seed. The sun comes with its heat and warmth to give that to the seed. Yet man really has no control. He does not have any control over the germination process. As Jesus says in verse 28, all by itself the soil produces grain. And the Greek there says literally, automatically the soil produces grain. And what our Lord is saying there is that this is how it appears because it's not the farmer's doing. The seed sprouts. The seed grows. Why? Because it has the germ of life within it, the germ of life with which God has created it. Once the farmer has done all that he can do, once all of the outside influences have done what they can do, all that is left is to wait. The farmer has to be patient. He goes to bed night after night. He gets up day after day, not because he's uninterested in the field or the crop. He's very much interested, but He knows that nature must not be interrupted if it is interrupted. If He digs down to check for sprouting, if He pulls up the tiny plants because they're not growing fast enough to suit Him, He will destroy them and kill them. But He leaves it because of the mystery of the seed's growth. And with His analogy, Jesus draws our attention to the truth of the Kingdom of God and the spiritual reality for you and me. The seed of the Kingdom is the very Word of God which the writer of Hebrews says is living and active. And that seed of the Word of God falls into the dead soil of the human heart by the operation of the Holy Spirit who implants the seed of the Word into that heart. The soil of that heart is prepared by the Holy Spirit and the Word gives life to that heart by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. But all by itself, that human heart is lifeless. just like that empty soil. As the earth only by itself produces weeds that choke and kill and not wheat apart from the seed. In the same way, the heart produces only works of flesh and not the obedience of life. But that new life comes only from the power of the living Word of God. Like the seed that gives life to the soil, the Word of God implanted and empowered by the Holy Spirit irresistibly transforms the heart of mankind and makes that one desirous and able to turn to God in repentance and faith. But we don't know how. We don't know how the mystery of the hand of God works in the life of God's people, but we know that it happens. As Jesus says in John 3, verse 8, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. We don't know how. But we know that the Spirit of God works powerfully and effectively in the hearts of God's elect children. Yet there is human responsibility. Oh, we cannot bring about new life. You and I cannot convert another. We cannot give life to that which is dead. A farmer cannot command prosperity from the seed that he plants. And man cannot command new life. Man cannot cause the church to truly grow. Yet you and I have been given the responsibility to sow the seed. To sow the seed. To spread the Word of God. To share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is our task. as Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians 3 when he says, some plant others water, but God gives the increase. And if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you and I, we are spiritually alive and we believe because and only because of the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit. Not because of ourselves, not because of someone else or anything else, but only because of the work of the Holy Spirit. And indeed, beloved, that is mysterious and all the more so because when we understand the truth of ourselves that we are totally depraved, that by nature we hate God, that we want nothing to do with Him, that instead we are doing everything we can to avoid Him, that indeed this is all that much more mysterious because only God could do this in you and me. No one. Nothing besides the Holy Spirit and the Word of God could give us new life and bring us to faith. We owe it all to God. And our responsibility as God's people is indeed to sow the seed of the Word and as well we are called to nurture and take care of that life the Holy Spirit gives us both to ourselves to take care of our own spiritual lives and that which He has given to others. And we do that in a variety of ways, don't we? We nurture that life through worship and Bible study and devotions and prayer. Meditating upon the greatness of our God as we said this morning and all that He has done for us and the relationship into which He has brought us with Christ Jesus. We nurture this by rejoicing in the Lord. We nurture and care for this life through fellowship with one another in youth group and cadets and gems and so many other things. We care for it also by admonishing one another and encouraging one another. You see, just as God uses the soil and the sowing and the sun and the rain to provide the proper environment for the seed, He also uses the ministry of His Word along with the witness and the testimony of His people and our lives of faith and obedience, as well as our encouragement of one another. He uses all of that as the environment for the working of His Word. The people of God, just as the farmer, cannot explain why some seed comes up and other seed dies. Just as the farmer cannot tell exactly when the life of the seed will become visible, spiritually speaking, man cannot explain God's work in the heart. He cannot explain why it is that God uses man, but yet it is God's work. He cannot explain why God chooses some and not others. And as far as the church, even having many programs or the greatest hospitality or fellowship or the most powerful preaching and all of these things are so very important. But even with all those things in place, those things by themselves do not and cannot command success. Only God gives life. Only God gives success. Only He gives conversion with repentance and faith resulting in obedience that one is able to heed the call, to seek the Lord while he may be found, to call upon Him while he is near, that the wicked might forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts and turn to the Lord who will abundantly pardon. Man cannot explain these things. But that new life in Jesus Christ and the reign of God over the hearts and lives of His people with His influence over every part of life It's indeed mysterious in its growth, but it's also very real. It's also very real, and it's evidenced in the second place through the power of the seed's life. Jesus says in verse 28, All by itself the soil produces grain, first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. Again, as the Greek says, there's automatic growth. And we are to understand that Jesus means that the soil only produces the crop as it is the home of the seed. Because the soil, as well as the human heart, again, they are dead without the seed. A church without the living preaching of the Word of God is dead. It may have many programs. It may seem to be alive today. But without the living Word of God, it is dead. It will not survive. It has no sustainable life. Now thinking again about the horticulture example, the seed as it grows makes the soil look alive automatically. And I think at least from my experience, we see this probably most vividly back in the Midwest when you are used to the corn and the beans being planted in the springtime and harvested in the fall. You look over these large fields and you know the seed has been planted but for a number of days, maybe even a couple of weeks, it's still just dirt. Then all of a sudden, one day you look close and you see a little shade of green. The next day, it's a little bit greener. And it continues to become a luscious green as the plants grow. Automatically, it seems like. And what Jesus means is without any outside help, with no one pulling on those plants to get them up out of the ground. Without any visible cause or human help. the living seed causes the earth to produce a crop. And of course, that crop goes through stages of development. Jesus said, first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. It's still a mystery. It's still a mystery as it develops from seed to full-grown plant. Underground. We know what happens. We know that the seed sprouts roots. We know that the stalk begins to form. You can't see it, but we know that the life is there. And then again, there's that visible growth. We see the power of the life of that seed as it breaks the surface of the ground and then as the stem and the blade grow and then as the head forms where the fruit is to be and then at the right time, the mature grain. And if you think about it, we cannot help but to be amazed that that one tiny kernel of corn becomes an eight foot tall stalk of corn and in our day again with such modified genetics with two or three ears of corn on each stalk. It's amazing. It's a mystery. We see the stages as they come to pass, but we don't really see and know how the seed moves from blade to head to mature grain. And it takes patience. And that farmer rests with patience and confidence that the grain will ripen. It takes time. The stages must run their course through the power of the seed's life. We're turning back to spiritual life again. Verse 28 here, Jesus is talking about the progressive course of the spiritual life. He's talking about the growth and the expansion of that life. He's not talking by talking about the stock and the head and the full kernel. He's not talking about the steps in the order of salvation, calling, regeneration, conversion, justification, adoption, sanctification, preservation, glorification. That's not what Jesus is talking about here, but He's talking about that progressive course, the growth. And the fact that the life is all there. The whole life is in the seed. The believer with the living seed of the Word of God implanted into his heart enjoys the whole life of salvation. It is there. He does not yet enjoy it perfectly or completely, yet it is wholly there. Just as even the boys and girls know that the full flower, the full blossom, the gorgeous rose is all there in the bulb invisibly. And it becomes visible through organic growth. In the same way, a human being is fully there in the mother's womb. We even know about the stages of growth. Now, it's the size of a grape. And now, the size of something else. Now, the size of a grapefruit that baby is. And through an ultrasound, we see that the baby is there. We see the hands and the feet and the fingers and the toes and the eye sockets and the heart beating. We see the internal organs. We know it's there. It is not yet fully grown. And in the same way, the spiritual life of faith with trust and obedience and a response of good works is there from new birth. All that faith may be weak. That faith is immature in the beginning. That new obedience may be limited. In fact, we may hardly not be able to see it. But it's there. And as that life grows, that spiritual life becomes more visible as faith produces in greater abundance. Beloved, the power of the life of the seed of the Word of God is that there is indeed growth. There is progress. There must be. That's what the power of God's Word accomplishes. And that's the message of Jesus, that one who is born again will grow. That's the power of sanctification. That one will constantly be transformed by the renewing of his or her mind. that one will more and more daily think God's thoughts after him. There will be growth in grace and faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. There will also be growth in trust and obedience to Him. There will be growth in submission to the Lordship of Jesus in all of life, in our families and in the church and in government, in education, in recreation, in vocation, in our relationships. There will be growth in humility as a child of God, as we become more amazed at God's grace of adoption. God's grace of adoption. Think about that. That God would take us who were filthy, who were completely unlike Him, who did not fit at all in His family. That He should take us to be a part of His family. for Jesus' sake. And there will be growth in holiness. Again, it may be slow. We might not always see the progress, but it's there as Proverbs 4, verse 18 points to, But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. And we must remember, beloved, that that growth takes time. And that growth is often hard to see. And we have to be honest now. We think about this and mostly we are outward looking. We look at others and not ourselves. But we must not forget ourselves in this either. Sometimes we think that our growth is very fast. It may not be. But there's an important lesson here, especially as we do look at others. That when we do not see the growth as we think we should, that we need to be careful. We need to be careful to nurture that young life, not to criticize it. We need to be faithful to preach and teach and train each other in the fear of the Lord. We need to be diligent in praying for each other and admonishing and encouraging one another, trusting that the Lord will indeed give the increase. We don't convert, and I sometimes think that's problematic for us. We think we ought to be able to. Why don't they get it? I've been telling them, I've been praying for them. It seems so clear. Why don't they get it? But we don't convert. Yet we are to do everything humanly possible that God has called us to do, to plant the seed, the water to seed, and to pray that God will use us if it is His will to give the increase. And there are times when as parents and preachers and teachers and elders, the work seems fruitless. It seems for nothing. But we must be patient. We must remember that the first sight of life, when that corn begins to grow, it is not yet the ripe ear of corn. Yet, even at its weakest, it is a living plant. And even the newest Christian has living faith. And we are to be careful not to judge that faith because it's not as strong as Moses. It's not as strong as the Apostle Paul's. We must remember, as someone has said, even the mightiest oak was once an acorn. we must be patient. Yet that does not mean, beloved, that we may neglect our duty to sow or neglect our duty to water. It does not mean that we may fail to hold those who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and who have even responded to it by saying, I believe we may not fail to hold them accountable. We are to hold them accountable in love. But we are to remember, as Isaiah says in chapter 42, a bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. And may that be comforting to you and me too, beloved, because that includes us. When we are at our weakest, he will not break us off. He will not snuff us out. And instead, this gives us confidence of the victory that Jesus speaks of in the third place, of the seed's harvest. Verse 29, As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it because the harvest has come. The hidden quality of kingdom growth is that the seed of the Word of God grows mysteriously into spiritual life. And the life of the seed grows powerfully unto maturity and there will be victory. Now we know, anybody who is familiar with farming knows that with regard to crop life, one good hailstorm or one powerful natural disaster can wipe out a crop in a moment's notice. When the harvest is ready, therefore, the farmer wastes no time in getting it out of the field. But when it comes to the spiritual life, there is no threat of a spiritual hailstorm to completely destroy the crop. It doesn't mean that we won't face the storms of life. We will. We talked about that this morning. But there will never be a spiritual hailstorm to completely destroy the crop. Jesus teaches here that the harvest is guaranteed because that seed is incorruptible. Peter says, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the Word of God which lives and abides forever. And that means those who have been implanted with the living Word of God will ripen. No one will snatch us out of His hands. Nothing shall be able to separate us from His love. Beloved, God's kingdom will come fully. It will come completely, it will come perfectly in His time. Man cannot manipulate it, man cannot stop it, man cannot change it, man cannot bring those in whom God has determined to pass over. But God's kingdom will come fully, completely, and perfectly, and God's timing is perfect. And that means when it comes to death, beloved, that means that not one of God's children dies at the wrong time. Not one of God's children dies at the wrong time. He never removes one of His children until that child is ripe and ready by His grace. No matter what age that might be. But that also means that when children die in the Lord, that Jesus Christ does not harvest partly grown grain. He harvests ripened grain. It's a mystery to us. But He does. Old saints come with rejoicing, bringing in their sheaves with them. Young saints bring ripe grain. The Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, ripens unto maturity and prepares each and every one of God's children so that they are as grain to be harvested by the Lord. And that means, beloved, that for you and me, when the Lord calls us home, whenever that may be, we can be assured that we will be ready. Today we might sit here and say, well, I'm not ready. But when that day comes, we can be assured that we will be ready by His grace. And our comfort is that Jesus Christ will not come again to gather His church and to judge the living and the dead until the harvest has come, until the last sheep is in the fold, until every last elect child of God has been brought to faith. And let that be a comfort for you and me as well as we pray for our loved ones and friends whom we know have not yet looked to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance of faith. Or those who have fallen away for a season, let that be comforting to you and me. But there's also a warning here. On that day when our Lord Jesus Christ plunges in that sickle, the very same sickle as He teaches in another parable, that the very same sickle that gathers the ripened grain will cut off the weeds and the weeds will be gathered and they will be destroyed. All those who rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why still today, beloved, we must be diligent. We must be fervent. in spreading the Word of God and issuing the call to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ because there is only hope in Him. One day it will be too late. But there is hope for you and me for all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But it's God's work. God alone builds His church. He alone grows His church. No one can stop Him because Jesus Christ has secured the harvest by His death and resurrection and therefore we may have the comfort that Isaiah speaks of as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. What will God's word accomplish through His Spirit on behalf of His elect? Jesus said, I will build My church. And beloved, nothing can keep Him from accomplishing that task. The church's completion is guaranteed. It is sealed by His resurrection and by the same stone that was rolled away from His empty tomb. Not one of His elect will be left behind. Instead, He will bring His church. He will bring His church into the glorious day of the new heavens and the new earth, where and when we will worship Him perfectly in that world without end. How do you know if that seed is in you? If you know your sin. If you are saddened by your sin. If you know your need for a Savior. If you look only to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance and faith and trust in Him alone for salvation, you can have courage, be encouraged that that seed is in you and you will see growth. You ought to see growth. And beloved, when we become discouraged because our obedience is not what it should be and we ought to each be discouraged because our obedience is never what it ought to be, but then we ought to remember that the Holy Spirit is not yet done. The Holy Spirit is still busy cleansing us and we can be confident that He will complete that work which He has begun. And therefore, beloved, may we desire growth. May we pray for growth. May we watch for growth. May we see that growth in ourselves and in each other in the Lord Jesus Christ. And may the Lord of Harvest strengthen our faith daily, preparing each one of us to be gathered in together with all the sheaves of God's people. And may He be pleased to continue to grow His kingdom in us and through us for the sake of Jesus Christ. And may we rejoice in what God is doing in us for Jesus' sake. Let's pray together. Our great God and Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You for the glorious Bride of Christ. The church which he has purchased with his own precious blood. The church which you continue to gather from the beginning to the very end of the age. The church that will be complete in all of her splendor and all of her holiness, adorned by the bridegroom. And Father, we praise your name that you have made us a part of your church. And may it be, O Lord, that we would live as those who are a part of that church. Give us growth in our lives, in our spiritual lives. Growth in faith, hope, and love. That more and more, Father, we would live for You and delight in You and rejoice in the Lord because of what You have done. We praise Your name, Father, that this work is not our work alone. Indeed, You have called us to be active, to be used of You as a means to spread Your most holy word. We praise You that it is Your work in an unfailing way that it will be complete. Father, hear our prayer for Jesus' sake and in His name alone. Amen.