Well, we're continuing this morning our study in the Gospel of Mark, and I invite you to turn to Mark chapter 4, New Testament Matthew, Mark, and we are looking at verses 26 to verse 34 of Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4, beginning at verse 26. 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 sickle. because the harvest has come. And he said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, it is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. With many such parables, he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples, he explained everything. May the Lord bless the hearing of his word. Well, the author to the book of Hebrews tells us that we are all receiving as Christians a kingdom that cannot be shaken. It's really a glorious statement. You're receiving a kingdom. You are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken. This is such a, there is in the Bible, such a glorious presentation of the kingdom of God. When we look at it, it's power, it's glory, but we have somewhat struggled with the concept itself in light of the reality that we often experience living in this world. Nothing about the Lord's kingdom, His rule. When we stand back and look at things throughout history and look at where is that kingdom today and we ask those sort of questions, nothing really seems to be all that impressive about the kingdom of God. In fact, truth be told, we all feel like we're underdogs today. It really doesn't seem like there's much happening right now. It doesn't seem like there's much happening at all in the kingdom. And often we are tired of feeling like losers, aren't we? We feel that way. History has shown that Christians, because of this struggle and because of wondering where the real power is, wondering where this kingdom is showing itself, wondering where is the power of the kingdom of God, Christians have become very impatient over the years on what seems to be, of what seems to be, on a losing team. So throughout history, there have been attempts to bring the concept of God's kingdom into the world in a culture, in a more powerful, transformative way. We've got to do that. We've got to see that kingdom. This is Jesus's kingdom. It's got to be evident to us. Something's wrong if it's not making itself evident in the world. There's got to be some more present glory to this. There's got to be something more to all of this, right? Don't you struggle with that? Don't you feel that tension? I've attached myself to this Jesus. I've attached myself to Christianity. We read that he is Lord and King over all. Yeah, this is a pretty big world we're living in. Truth be told, we all seem to be pretty defeated and pretty weak. Well, if you've ever struggled with that question, if you've ever wondered about the kingdom of God, Jesus now turns in his parables to address this particular phenomenon in connection with the parable of the sower. For the past two weeks, you've been studying that parable, essentially, and then the parable to apply that parable was the parable of the lamp that we looked at last time. But that particular parable of the sower described, essentially, for us, how the kingdom of God is built. He is the sower. He's the sower of the word. He's the sower of the word of God, and this is going out today. Think about it. Think about what's happening on this day that he has commissioned. The word today is going out all over the face of the world. Think about every city, and in every city, at least outwardly as we see it, we see a building called a church. The word is being sown. And he explained for us that importance of that work, that his role, what he's doing, is casting out the seed in the earth. he's casting out the seed of his word and god has always chosen to do this this has been nothing new from the beginning he always brought people to himself by means of the word the word proclaimed throughout the old testament it was preached hebrew says just like it's preached to you it was preached to israel it was preached right from the beginning and the lord you'll remember that is why in this particular parable of the sower gave us all the solemn responsibility which is hard for us and we've not appreciated it the solemn responsibility to come and sit under that word to come and receive that word to listen to that word to give yourself in this life to that great responsibility he said that plainly last time listen listen listen pay attention to what you hear this is the most important thing you can do with your life is hear my word and that's tragic today. We looked at last time that that is the least appreciated thing today that people do anymore. But all his teaching has been to make clear for the disciples and us that this great work, his great work is to cast the seed over the face of the earth. And what has been hard for us, what has been a struggle for us is that this casting, and he's explaining that, this casting has come with incredible opposition and incredible conflict we've seen that in the responses of chapter three we've seen that if you go through the gospels why do the gospels oftentimes feel so rough and jesus feels so rough it's because of this problem he has got people constantly assaulting him and his word assaulting the very mission that he came to cast the seed on the earth and you'll notice here then that's why jesus moved to speaking in parables uh you'll notice at the very end in verse 34 that with many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it he did not speak to them without a parable things shifted in his ministry but privately to his own disciples he explained everything parables we looked at were actually meant to make things clearer for his own who were hearing the word. And parables were meant to conceal for those who would not listen to his word. It had a dual function. And Jesus recognizes that here. That's why we looked at the parable with Nathan last time. The intention that God sent Nathan to David to give that parable was to make the truth hit home of his own heart. He was that man and the parable drove that home when he finally understood it. Well, that's what the Lord's doing for his disciples. He's opening their understandings and using the parables to emboss and impress the truth upon them in a way that they could hold onto it. And this little parable that we're about to study would have been so meaningful for them as they go out to the end of the earth with the gospel. And that's why Jesus left us with this responsibility. He keeps hitting hard this responsibility in his ministry to pay attention to his word when it's preached to you to give yourself to that to have your children under that it's the most important thing again i state we'll look at this at the end that you can do in your life now the question then after all of this is is there anything that's really happening here today really is there anything that's really going on in all this are you as you hear this today what what is happening why should you be in church and what does it say when you easily check out of it well some of us have heard 60 years of sermons and you might be tempted to say peter nello could probably say 101 years of sermons right some of you can probably stand back and say has anything really happened in all those years of sermon am i any farther down the path than i am now than i than i than i was then jesus emphasized this when he gave that and he encouraged and said listen there's a consequence to hearing and he said with the measure you use this it will be measured back to you it's going to reap great benefits and dividends in your life and with the measure you don't use it same is true those were the bad hearers of his word but what really is the motivation today that you have to give yourself to listening what really is the motivation that you have today to really give yourself to the ministry of the church what really is happening happening i often observe nothing i often feel nothing. I read about this powerful God. I read about his powerful son. I read about the powerful work of the Holy Spirit. Where is it? Is this it? Are you serious? To be honest, Christianity seems pathetically weak. That's what Ted Turner said about it. That's what lots of people have said about it. Well, it's with this thought and this struggle that I believe Jesus now launches us into two parables meant to be taken together on the kingdom of God so that we would understand what is happening with the sowing of the word. And remember, without understanding the parable of the sower, Jesus plainly said, you'll never understand any other parable. That means that parable was absolutely important and integral to understanding this parable. Which means then, if you appreciate what Jesus is saying to us, That the sowing of the Word has everything to do with the kingdom of God. The sowing of the Word has everything to do with His kingdom. The revealing of His kingdom. The power of His kingdom. To be clearer, when the Word is being sown in the earth, it is there that you are finding the clearest revelation of the kingdom of God. There. There. Where is the Word sown? There's a reason we have the church. There's a reason. And Jesus is saying to us today, a great thing is happening. That's what I want to encourage you with this morning. That's the goal of this parable. By faith, I want you to receive this and believe this as he describes how the kingdom has come, as he describes what that kingdom looks like so you understand it, and that you know that there is a future goal when the kingdom will come in all of its fullness and in all of its glory and you're going to see it for what it really is in mark chapter one jesus's ministry was introduced and we read that jesus came up to galilee and i want you to notice this right out of the gates of mark's gospel jesus came up to galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of god preaching gospel and kingdom he put together preaching and kingdom it was all wrapped up together as one and the first words that came out of jesus's mouth in this remember in this gospel was the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of god is at hand it's come so repent and believe this gospel that i'm preaching that's how he began his ministry those were the first words of his ministry it was an announcement the kingdom has come with his preaching and preaching about him and his work, which Luke 24 told us was the whole aim. That is why it's so important we preach him. Well, as that happened, remember the first words as he said that, if you're Israel at this moment and you're hearing that, think about that for a minute. You're Israel and you're hearing the kingdom of God has come. What are you thinking to yourself? You're bringing the kingdom of God? You are? have you ever heard of david have you ever read about king solomon and all of his glory if you're israel and you're being presented with these claims this has got to be really tough to understand right isn't that supposed to be your temple over there herod's sitting in it if you were bringing the kingdom of god wouldn't you have a crown on wouldn't you be wearing a royal robe where is it look look at least david had his mighty men you're bumbling around israel with fishermen that's a kingdom you got to be kidding me it's not a kingdom then you think a little further and think well when did he wear that robe and when did he wear that crown and it's death now this starts it helps to get in the mind of the family a little bit who's running around saying he's insane he's insane you don't come and say you're bringing the kingdom of god this is the most ridiculous thing we've ever heard you're bringing the kingdom of god we've got to stop this we've got to get him out and check him in you know and i pause and i think to myself of all the kingdom debates we're having today you know of just what is the kingdom of god and how does it come and where is it found and what does it accomplish? These were all the very same struggles of the first century. Nothing's new. Nothing's new. If you want to see this, they had a moment in John 6 when they looked at him feed the 5,000 and they said, wait a minute, you know, maybe it has come. This guy has incredible power. Maybe it has come. And you'll read a little phrase in John chapter 6 that after he had fed the 5,000 they were so impressed with his ability to do these things, they all tried, and it reads, they came by force to make him king. And then he says, no thanks, I want nothing to do with your version of me being king. He walked away from it. And that's led us to struggle with what do we understand about the kingdom of God. I want you to listen to what Martin Lloyd-Jones once said about many of the goals today in the name of the kingdom of God. The world, listen to this. The world can never be reformed, never. That is absolutely certain. A Christian state is impossible. They must fail. The apocalypse alone will cure the world's ills. Man, even at his best, even as a Christian, can never do so. You can never make people Christian by acts of parliament. You can never Christianize society. It is folly to attempt to do so. I would even suggest that it's heresy to attempt to do so. Ooh. Heresy? The great doctor? How confusing. What are we doing then? What are we doing? And then I think he's claiming that with him, the kingdom of God comes. How do kingdoms come? How do we know kingdoms come? well you know this you know how kingdoms come when kingdoms rise quickly to power what do they do you have seen a kind of kingdom come upon us overnight they were called the jv team remember it was called it's isis today that kingdom has really come overnight and what what is it that strikes you about the coming of that particular kingdom the coming of that particular kingdom was It used absolute terror and sword to bring people into submission and fear. Sheer violence they have brought in their kingdom. And world domination is their goal right now. They will stop at nothing less than to get world domination over you. And look at the fear they have brought just in this short time. That's how a kingdom comes of the world. Or it's a little more civilized. Even I remember in college when the United States was losing its greatness and all the professors were talking about the United States. And I remember going through one of my classes and the professor said, well, she said, the U.S. is no longer a superpower. I thought, how could you say such a thing? What are these superpowers? She says, we're no longer a superpower. And this was in the 90s. So I asked her, so why do you say that? She says, because when you're a superpower, everyone fears you. No one questions you. Those days are over for the U.S. It's interesting when Jesus was on trial that Pilate questioned him about him being a king and having a kingdom. And Jesus then said this phrase, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from the world. Now Jesus has said the kingdom has now come. He's out preaching the gospel. It's received major opposition and he's saying you really need to give yourself to listening to my word and what I'm trying to do this morning for you is give you a real motivation to want to be here and do this. I believe that's what he's doing. What is this accomplishing? And all of a sudden, voila, you got two more parables from him. Well, what are they? Let's do it. Verse 26. Jesus now explains how his kingdom comes. And he said, The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow. He himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself first, The blade, then the head. After that, the grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. And you stand back and you say, what in the world is he talking about? What is this? Well, he just tied together the parable of the sower. That when the sower sows, he casts out his seed and it lands in all these different kinds of soils. But when there is a seed, remember he said, that lands on good soil, that's a representative of the human heart. And when that seed lands in good soil, there is a growing process that begins to happen. Well, Jesus said, that's how the kingdom of God works. What do I mean? When the seed is sown, when you dear disciples put it in their context, which he's training them, when you dear disciples go out to the ends of the earth to preach the gospel you're going to scatter and you don't make those seeds grow it's a mystery how that all happens isn't it you know how you don't know how it all happens all you did was scatter the seed and what jesus is saying is not that hard the kingdom of god comes through the preaching of the gospel this is what he's emphasizing seed being his word jesus is illustrating with this parable to make clear how his kingdom arrives and how it did arrive in mark one when he announced he's preaching the gospel of the kingdom what is his basic point well jesus has been saying everywhere think about when the pharisees came up to him and they looked at him and they said you've got to be kidding you're not a king you don't have a kingdom so why don't you tell us jesus being asked by the pharisees when the kingdom of God would come when is this great kingdom you say is going to come remember what he said the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed nor will they say look there it is I see it or there it is over there for behold the kingdom of god is within you in your midst how does the kingdom of god come when peter was taken by this peter wrote in his little first epistle having been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible through the word of god which lives and abides forever all flesh is as grass all the glory of man as the flower of the field the grass withers the flower falls away what but the word of the lord endures forever and then he says this now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you now the seed is sown and what happens well he said there's good soil on which it lands and and it springs up and it bears fruit some 30 some sixty, some a hundredfold. That's what's going on in the kingdom. So where do we find the kingdom of God? Here it is. It's not so hard. His rule, and we prayed for it this morning, that's why I read the Heidelberg, his rule is demonstrated God's power is found in the heart of someone who believes this. His kingdom is shown in the heart of someone who believes this this was nicodemus nicodemus was a outward member of the kingdom the point jesus came along and said nicodemus you need to be born again you need life planted in your dead heart or you'll just go on and do all your religious duties and you'll never ever have life given to you the life was shown as the gospel was preached to him and the spirit regenerated or implanted life in that dead black heart of his but do you see why he's so concerned then about you listening and giving yourself to the ministry of the church this this this drove our lord this was so important for him to give yourself to the ministry of the word this is why he's saying use it use it use it because the kingdom comes when that word is believed now isn't that the struggle we have what is kingdom life like well i can tell you what it's not often very glorious I didn't realize receiving the kingdom of God would come with this much hardship. I didn't realize it would come with this much struggle. I can't make sense often of our Christian mess. I really can't. I'm being totally honest here. I can't make sense of it. We're goofy at times in society. No one seems to take us seriously. What we represent, we look so weak. And then we have all this outward opposition. Everyone seems to tolerate everything except us. Ever thought about that? And throughout history and the kingdom, there's been nothing but hatred for Christ and his Christians. Even where the seed is scattered and falls on good soil, you wonder, is anything happening? Did you hear me? Even where it's scattered and falls on good soil, you wonder, is anything happening? And if the kingdom is tied to the word and spirit, which we read earlier, Look at these terrible responses. Are you serious? That's it? We just went through three of them. The parable of a matted heart, if you will, the soil of a matted heart, the soil that springs up quickly and receives it all quickly and then is gone. As quickly as they came in, they bolted. And then you've got these thorns that choke out the word so that they don't even grow. There's just no interest in this whole thing. But that enthusiast scares me a little bit because he's the one that Jesus says, thinks that Christianity is just the solution to all our problems, and yet because he has no root, he endures for a while and then bolts. For when tribulation or persecution arises, immediately they fall away and the plant, he says, the sun scorches. This is tough. And then you've got all these thorns choking people, worry and tribulation. All of that is in his kingdom. And you think, this project seems like a giant failure. I often think, this project seems like a giant failure. And Jesus' purpose in these parables is to say to you, no, it's not. No, it's not. There's a good soil, and Jesus is saying, it's coming right here, the kingdom. Look at it. How so? It's at this thought that Jesus interjects another parable to explain what the kingdom is like. In verse 30, he said, to what then shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? In other words, what parable would be best to help you grasp what I'm saying to you? He's such a good teacher. I mean, this is amazing rhetorical device. He is really good at really getting and prompting the mind to think about this. Think about what he just said. In other words, what parable would be best to help you understand my kingdom and what you're a part of. I want you to understand this. How best can I capture it for you? How can I do that for you today? How about this? It's like a mustard seed, which when it's sown in the ground, it's smaller than all seeds on the earth. But when it's sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs and shoots out large branches. Everyone there knew how small the mustard seed was. In fact, Jesus has been blasted throughout history by people who think that he's making some kind of statement and was wrong here that this was the smallest seed. Jesus was using hyperbole. Jesus was not giving a science lesson. He was giving something to them to hold on to. They knew how tiny the mustard seed was. It's so tiny. You ever seen a mustard seed? Tiny. and you put it into the earth and it goes into the ground and then one day it pops up and the thing looks like a bush and then when it's all said and done it's like a tree branches are everywhere now in the first parable he explained how the kingdom comes from the start it's small it's not glorious but now he describes what it's like in its fullness in both parables he's making the same basic point what jesus is emphasizing today is this it's really slow going from your perspective one day a farmer went out and he planted this thing and he kept going out and he kept going out and then one day he saw a blade and then one day he saw the head then he saw the full grain this mustard seed one day was planted and the thing came to a full tree and something should have stood out in the parable to them as they were thinking about this he says night and day you go to bed you get up you go to bed you get up you go to bed you get up and what troubles you about that the monotony of this whole thing you go to bed you get up and this just this life just keeps keeping to go on nothing ever changes nothing ever seems to change at all it goes on and on and on same routine same routine same routine it never seems to stop and then you look at farmers and you know how many problems they have you know you know how many crop failures they deal with you know the weather you know the struggle you know how many problems it's incredibly up and down and jesus is saying that's what the kingdom of god is like there's nothing outward you'll see. In fact, it's not radical. It's not big in your eyes right now. In fact, it seems like there's nothing going on. You ever watch grass grow? I don't do that in my spare time. Nobody sits around and watches grass grow, do they? You never see it grow. I've never once seen a grass grow i've never once seen anything grow in the midst of all your grass or weeds too hate those things you greatly struggle with christianity maybe you struggle with the seeming nothingness of all this you can be here today and you feel like you're going absolutely nowhere be real your great struggle in life is there anything really happening is there is there any life to this and that frustration and that impatience has led christians to try to make the kingdom of god come their way that frustration has led to all sorts of things so that we can get a more powerful tangible christianity that people can see something's really happening so i worship is all over the map today everyone says i want this I want that, I want this, I want that. I want the stuff that makes me really feel like there is something really going on with this. This is why you have this problem. We've got to make it more, don't we? And the most encouraging thing Jesus is saying to us is, with the mustard seed one day, in His timing, there were shoots everywhere. That is the most encouraging parable for you to understand what you're a part of. how it works. Every week as a pastor, what am I doing? I'm scattering the seed. And the greatest discouragement pastors can face is the seemingly little to no progress in complaining that members do. This is why so many quit. And the Lord is saying, uh-uh. Let me tell you how this works. Let me tell you how this works. Year after year after year after year i scatter i'm called as long as god keeps the pastor in it any pastor is called to do that and you go through moments is this accomplishing anything and then one day i look up and i see people responding to this word who hadn't said anything for years you think whoa sprouts it's the same for you and all of your work and in all of your service and all of life in a sense work in the kingdom it may seem utterly insignificant it may seem that you've done absolutely nothing of real value think of the monotony every day of life think of every day rising going to bed rising same routine same challenges we're going nowhere and think of the encouragement of what jesus is saying of how the kingdom of god goes think of this in con in context of child raising you can feel like you're making no progress to train your children and to love to have them know the lord and love the lord and all these efforts every week we bring them to church for a reason we give that priority for a reason all our prayers nothing nothing nothing oh it's so frustrating and then one day there pops a blade when you never expected it i was thinking the other night for cadets you know here's the cadet leaders and they're doing uh leading our our boys are they doing anything important well they're helping as a part of the community and body of christ to form the minds of our children and to give them skills and help them you may never see fruits from that immediately but when a young person stands up and makes profession of faith years later Have you thought about all the times the Word was given and planted and watered? It gives an entirely different perspective to what a person should be praying for. Or your friend who just won't come to believe and has a hardened heart, has a matted heart, and you've talked to for years and years and years. Nothing. Nothing. or a son and a daughter who you don't know why. They're just not responding. And then comes the blame. Patience. Just Jesus, patience. Do you know how patient I am? We've been here and it's 2016. One of the most moving stories is Monica. I think I've used it before, St. Augustine's mother. She was married to a pagan official named Patricius. He had a terrible temper of the father, lived a very immoral life. The husband was such a hard man on his wife, he would not even permit their children to be baptized. She worried incessantly at that time about Augustine and her husband. Augustine, of course, went to live with a woman, and they had an illegitimate son. And her constant prayers on her knees, night and day, night and day, night and day, For her husband and her son had the effect after a time of her own husband converting. And then you have a whole history of St. Augustine being one of the greatest church fathers we know. How many moments do you feel like giving up? This parable says don't lose heart. It gives the same perspective about the church. We read in the past about revivals. We read about all these great moments of history, outpourings of the Spirit we read, and some great group to be doing something so great at the moment. And we look at envy over that. We look at envy. We say, oh man, that must be where it is. And the Lord says, uh-uh, it's trench work. It's trench work. Who likes being in the trench? If you were to ask me, when as a pastor in the course of a ministry, shoots begin to show in the course of his general ministry, I've come to the conclusion, don't even think about it until five years. I'm not saying it can't. What I'm saying is, we all want quick results right now, and the Lord is telling you how this goes. One day there's blades everywhere. One day there's fruit. It's slow in our perspective. There's nothing fast. I've seen movement after movement in Christianity that rose up quickly, and then it's gone. It's come and gone. In fact, that was one of the best advices one of your former ministers, Reverend Kamiga, gave me. Chris, you're going to see all sorts of things come and go. As quickly as they came, they're gone. I cannot believe how much that's proved true. And the Lord is telling you the kingdom doesn't work that way. And that should be the greatest drive, not to lose heart. I think in Acts, with all the frustrations those apostles must have, they must have held so tightly to this little parable. When it's sown, I love the end of this. This is what we'll close with. When it's sown, it becomes, listen to this, greater than all the herbs and shoots out large branches so that the birds of the air may nest in its shade. Do you know where that's taken? That's taken from Daniel, the book of Daniel, and Nebuchadnezzar's great kingdom. Remember what happened to Nebuchadnezzar? God knocked him down, the greatest king on earth. All these kingdoms of the earth have tried to show their power and glory. Notice we're all flexing right now. U.S. is flexing its muscle. We have little planes and bombs being going over us. We're all flexing to show power and might. Pomp and glory. The U.S.'s heyday is probably over. And everyone's tried to exert their power and dominion. Not one of these kingdoms has ever stood. Look through history. The greatest of kingdoms have fallen. Rome fell. The U.S. will fall. And Jesus said, when it's all said and done, you will see my kingdom far surpass every kingdom in glory. It will be the lasting kingdom. The kingdom of God and of his Christ will last forever and ever. And no one can ever take that throne. No one can kick over that throne. It's a throne fixed in heaven. And when the time of harvest comes, when the day the grain ripens, when the mustard seed is fully grown as a tree, The kingdom will show itself in so much power and glory. The whole creation groans for the revealing of it, of the sons of God right now. You will forever be sheltered in that kingdom, never again to know what you're going through now. And here it is. So He carried me away into the Spirit, to a high mountain and showed me the holy city, coming down out of heaven from God. Having the glory of God, I saw no temple, for the temple is the Lord God, and the Almighty and the Lamb. The city has no need of sun or moon to shine in it, for the glory of God gives its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light, the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day. There will be no night there. They will bring it into it, the glory and honor of the nations, but nothing unclean will ever enter again. Oh, that's just wonderful. Nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those written in the Lamb's book of life. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face. His name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more. There will be no need for a light or lamp or sun for the Lord God will be their light and they will reign forever and ever. And so he says you're receiving a kingdom that can't be shaken. You ever notice that through all history, Everyone's tried to stamp out Christianity and it's absolutely impossible. It's absolutely impossible. Keep your eyes on the goal. This is why Paul says run with endurance. You don't lose heart this way in the frustrations. Give yourself to the ministry of the word, hearing it. Things are happening. Parents, you really love your children, keep them here. Put them under the word. Do you really care for them? Do that for them. The kingdom shows itself that way. Every time a young person professes faith, every time someone repents, if the angels in heaven are rejoicing, you see the kingdom in power. When we will hear on that day, when it's come in all of its fullness, come you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you from before the foundation of the world. Until then, I close with the words of 1 Corinthians, therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast. Immovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us all kinds of perspective on your kingdom today. Of all the kingdom confusion that goes on, if we would only hear your word and sit reverently under it and stop trying to bring the kingdom our way, Oh Lord, we would see all these blades and fruits and yet even then nothing will stop that from occurring in your time in providence. May your kingdom be built until it's all in all and all of its fullness and all of its glory. Your kingdom come as you taught us to pray. Rule us by your word and spirit in such a way that more and more we submit to you. Keep your church strong, add to it and oh Lord, destroy the forces and revolts against your word of the devil. thank you for instructing us and caring for us today in this way in Jesus name Amen