Well, as Bruce said, it is good to hear the voices again. What a joy. I invite you to turn with me to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4. Today we are looking at verses 26 through 34. The title of the sermon is called, Growth of the Kingdom. Growth of the Kingdom. So let us give attention to the reading of God's Word. We'll be starting in verse 26 and continuing to verse 34. 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 it 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 is the smallest of all the seeds of 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 nest in its shade. With many 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. This is God's holy and inspired word. May he add his blessing to it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come now before you to ask of your help today in the preached word. We pray that you would have the word go forth boldly. We pray that the seed of the gospel would land on good soil and that it can sprout fruit 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold for your glory. Lord, help us to understand your word. by your spirit, illumine our minds, and help Christ be on display. We pray this in his holy name, amen. When you think of the kingdom of God, what comes to mind? If I were to ask you, you know, well, how does the kingdom grow? How would you respond? You know, throughout history, there have been many misconceptions about the kingdom of God. And misunderstandings of the kingdom has left to all sorts of attempts to try and bring the kingdom or usher it into this world. And it's no surprise that there would be confusion as well today, and there is. We can think, well, if Jesus is Lord now, if he is ruling and reigning now, why don't we see it visibly and physically in our time? And as nothing is new under the sun, misunderstandings can happen. Like then, it can lead to all sorts of faulty expectations and efforts to make it grow. So Jesus in our text today is going to explain a better understanding of the kingdom of God. So we can understand how we should expect it to grow and how we should see it. So just for background where we have been, we've been in the book of Mark. Mark has started us off to tell us that Jesus is the Christ, he is the son of God. Well, when Jesus comes on the scene, what is the first thing he is proclaiming? Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. repent and believe in the gospel. So he's been proclaiming this gospel message throughout, as he's been going, throughout regions. He's been doing miraculous signs as well. He's been healing the sick. He's been cleansing lepers. He's been casting out demons. All this has authenticated the message he's proclaiming. But the one thing he hasn't done up to this point is explain what the kingdom actually is. He's been calling people to say, hey, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent and believe in it. But what is it? Many people had these misconceptions of the kingdom. He's declaring himself to be the king and he's bringing in his kingdom. And we've said he's inaugurating it and he'll one day come back and consummate this kingdom. And so Jesus has then gone through parables now. And we went through the parable of the soil. And he's trying to explain here's what we should expect when the gospel message goes forth. And in so doing, he's gonna give us examples in future parables that we're gonna see today to better understand his kingdom. And the parable that we saw of the soils was a paradigm to help us understand the other parables. He said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? And we're gonna see that's relevant with our text today. So in that text, he had given the picture of a seed that is being sown. and it fell on all different types of soils. And now he's not gonna deal with the types of soils, he's gonna want to illustrate the power of the seed and how that illustrates his kingdom. So we're gonna see two parables that further show us what the kingdom is like. So the big idea today is because God is sovereign and in control, he will grow his kingdom as a seed of the gospel goes forth. We're gonna see this in three ways. First, we're gonna see the power of the seed does not depend on man. The power of the seed to grow does not depend on man. Second, we're gonna see that kingdom growth is certain. And third, the kingdom may start small, but grows to the greatest kingdom ever. So let's start with the first point. Let's look at verse 26 as we see the power of the seed does not depend on man. Look 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. Now, recall the parable that we just went through. For three weeks, we've been going through the parable of the soils or the sower. And here, he's been showing us the seed. And it's important to note that this parable that we're reading here is nowhere else in the Bible. No of the other gospel writers mentioned this parable specifically about the seed scattered. So there's something specifically that Mark wants to emphasize to us so we can understand by including it. Now they will go on to include all the gospel writers go on to include the one about the mustard seed that we'll see here in a little bit. But this one specifically is unique to Mark. So it's important that we get it so we understand what he's trying to tell us. And so it has connection to what we saw in verses one through 20. While that parable in verses one through 20 emphasize the soils, how the seed is cast, this one's gonna emphasize the seed. Notice it says in verse 26, and he said. The and here is showing there's a connection. He said, this is Jesus. Jesus is continuing to talk here. He's continuing to teach. Notice what he says. He says, the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. Now we're gonna see three things there that we're gonna bring out. First, he talks about the kingdom. Second, he gives us a man. Then he has the seed. And we can even add ground. We're gonna see these things. So Jesus' desire is he wants to have them better understand what the kingdom that he's been proclaiming is at hand is like. He wants to give a picture and he wants to give an illustration. Now in this parable, we've also talked about parables are meant to reveal truth. It's a earthly story with a heavenly meaning. While that's true, but it's also meant to conceal truth to those who do not understand as a form of judgment. And we talked about why that is. Remember, he's been proclaiming clearly, he's been teaching clearly up to this point, but then the scribes and Pharisees concluded he is not from God, he's actually from Satan. He's doing all this work by the power of Satan, and so now in judgment, Jesus is concealing his message to those who do not understand, but in so doing, he's also revealing truth to those who can hear. And so he's giving an illustration. He says, the kingdom of God is as if man should scatter seed on the ground. So he goes, the kingdom's like a farmer. A farmer goes out, he scatters seeds. So you're thinking about the kingdom. I wanna explain the kingdom because many people had these misconceptions. Jesus has been proclaiming the kingdom of God is at hand. The kingdom we can define as God's sovereign rule over creation, over all things, under the redemptive rule of the Messiah. So picture you're a Jew in that day. You've been raised to anticipate the kingdom of God. You've been looking forward to this all your life. You've read about it. You've read about past kings, King David, King Solomon, great kings of old. And you're hearing these things that there's gonna be a greater king who's gonna come and rule forever. You're a Jew and you imagine what Jesus is saying hitting your ears. That kingdom of heaven is at hand. That king is here. Think about that. This is what the Jews longed for and awaited for. And so picture you're in their shoes. How would you respond knowing that? So you're saying this kingdom is here. Doesn't look any different. You're saying you're the king. You don't look like a king. Where's your crown? Where's your robe? Why are we still under Roman oppression? Aren't you gonna overthrow us and we'll have political revolution? If the kingdom of God is really here, shouldn't we be free? Solomon had all his wealth and riches and wisdom. David had soldiers and mighty men. You have fishermen. You don't even have a home to call your own and you're a king. That's crazy, that's ridiculous. Even though he did many miracles, he showed he had signs and wonders, they had preconceived ideas of the kingdom, which led them to reject what he was saying. And as we saw a few weeks ago in chapter three, his own family members, upon hearing this, went out to seize him. Why? Because they thought he was out of his mind. They concluded he's a lunatic, as we said. They had these expectations of physical appearance of the kingdom here and now, which led them to pursuing it on their own terms. So when Jesus comes and proclaims the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent and believe, they're not buying it. They struggle. Well, how does this kingdom come? How does it grow? And what does it look like? Jesus doesn't want his disciples to be led astray, and so he now wants to declare, hey, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, but let me describe it to you in terms you can understand. It's not according to your preconceived notions. He doesn't want them to misunderstand. So how does the kingdom come? Is it by force? Does it come by overthrow? Notice the picture he gives. Look at the text. He says, is as if a man should scatter seed. That's a bit different. So first we see there's a man who scatters seed. And for the hearers, they can understand this. They understood in their kind of culture, they all sowed seed. Remember, he says, listen, behold, a sower went out to sow. So this is nothing new. We've already heard this in the beginning of chapter four. There's a sower and what does he do? He sows seed. He says, that's what the kingdom's like. You have one who scatters the seed. And a sower or a scatterer of seeds would be one who would hold this bag over his shoulder and down his waist. It'd be filled with seed and he'd walk around with handfuls just throwing it out. And as we saw in the verses one through 20, he's throwing it out indiscriminately on all types of soil. He's not picky about where it lands. He's generous in distributing it. As we saw last time, there's soils that represent the human heart, and so he's casting the seed on hearts that may not hear, but hearts that hopefully will. And Jesus goes, the kingdom's like that. You need a sower. You need one who is going to scatter the seed. You can't expect to harvest if you don't have a sower, if you don't have one who's casting seed. But he's not just casting anything. Look what he is casting. He says that he should scatter seed. This is his main goal. This is his mission to, this is his duty to scatter seed. Now it's not just any seed. He can't just grab a handful of random seeds and scatter it. In fact, in the Greek, it brings it out. There's a definite article right before this, the word seed, which means the seed. There's a specific seed in mind here. It's a particular seed. Well, look at verse 14 in chapter four. The sower sows the word. This is the word of God that's going forth. We are called to cast out the seed of the word of God. So you can understand why Jesus has said, If you don't understand this parable, how will you understand the others? Jesus is making the connections. Now he's not going on to explain this one because he's already assuming you're thinking that you've understood the other one. He's explained that one. So the sower must cast the seed and this seed alone. He's not called to cast any other seed. He's called to cast the seed of the word of God. Without this particular seed, all that you can expect to grow is weeds. So the sower must cast a particular seed, the seed of God's word. 1 Peter 1.23 says, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God. For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you. So this seed is a particular seed. It is the word of God. And here particularly, it is the gospel of Christ. This is the good news that the sower cast out. It is the good news of what Jesus Christ has done for us. This is what the sower cast. This is the particular seed that he is responsible for. As he's doing it, he's preaching what God demands. He is preaching that we are his creatures obligated to obey him, that he has given us his law, demands absolute perfection. We fall short of that. And so he sent his son, the answer, the solution, the good news. So we wouldn't have to be punished for all eternity. If we try to merit our own right standing with God, we fall short because his demands are perfection. He doesn't grade on a curve. He demands 100% perfection, righteousness. And the good news is that Jesus came, born like one of us, put on humanity, born under the law, perfectly obeyed the law. And he did that as our representative, Romans 5 talks about. And he did it perfectly. So he earns the righteousness God demands for us for right standing with him. But God must be just. He is a just God. He doesn't sweep sin under the carpet. He doesn't just forgive and let it go. He must punish sin or he's not just. So Jesus also becomes our sacrifice for us. He goes to the cross and he's killed. He suffered and died in our place. He was buried, he rose from the dead and ascended and is coming again. And the good news of the gospel that is sown is that he is the only way of salvation. So repent and believe in the gospel. And those who do trust in him by faith alone are then forgiven and united to Christ. That is the seed we cast forth. That is the particular seed. And this is the only seed we can cast and actually expect a harvest. So this is what the sower sows. It's the good news of the gospel. Jesus, in the context, is the ultimate sower. Remember, he's going and he's proclaiming the gospel, so he's sowing. He's then gonna commission the disciples to go and take this message to the ends of the earth. They're gonna sow. But then this responsibility is also to all believers. We're all, to an extent, called to cast the seed. It's not just for pastors. we're all obligated to share our witness before watching the world. We've been talking about last week about being lights in a dark world. And it's also by speaking the good news and having your life back that up. Sharing it with the people within your context, with your family members, in your work. This is what we're all commissioned to do, to cast the seed of the gospel And he says, this is what the kingdom's like. A sower casts seed. But notice where he says scatter, look at the text. He says on the ground. On the ground. Recall there's different kinds of ground, or we could call them soils as we saw in verses one through 20. We have the hard soil. We have the rocky, stony soil. We had the thorny soil, and then the good soil. But the sower cast indiscriminately on all the soils, not picky. He's not just holding a handful and just saying only this much. He's casting generously out. Not worried where it falls, but trusting when it does fall on the proper soil, it will bear fruit. And we saw that depending on the soil, it'll depend if the gospel is received. Fruitfulness of the seed is indicated by the type of soil it falls on. And as we saw in verses one through 20, a good soil is only made good because God has made it good. Nevertheless, the sower cast the seed on all types of ground. And Jesus goes, this is what the kingdom's like. You wanna see the kingdom today? Here's what it looks like. A sower casts seed on the different ground. He goes, okay, you got that? You got this picture in your head. There's a sower, he's casting seed. It falls on ground, this is what it's like. All right, awesome, yeah. What does the sower do after that? What does he need to do? Give me a checklist, I'll make sure we're doing this. How does he make the seed grow? Let me know, I wanna get on this. He goes, glad you asked. Look at verse 27. He sleeps and arises night and day and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how. So he goes, okay, you wanna know what the sowers does after he scatters? I'll tell you what he does, he sleeps. He does nothing. His responsibility is to scatter the seed. And let me give you an example of what I mean. Actually, he's sleeping. What do you do when you sleep? Nothing. He says not only that, he's unconscious and the seed is starting to grow. Why? Because he has no power in making it sprout. He plants, but he trusts the Lord to make it sprout. It's the sower's duty to scatter the seed and then rest in God to do the rest of the work. He cannot make it sprout. He has no power in and of himself to do that. The power doesn't rest on him, that's God's work. And he goes, just like a sower casts seed on ground and then trusts God to make the seed sprout, so you cast the word of God and then trust God that he will use that word to bring life in a dead soul. He said, that's what the kingdom is like. Ultimately, it is Christ who's the one who brings the life, not the sower. Not the one who just preaches the good news. Now, Christ did preach the good news. He did bring life. He did much more than that by going to the cross. But our commission is to scatter. He says, this is how the kingdom grows and advances in this world. John 6, 33, for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. And as we're those who've been commissioned and commanded to take this gospel out to all the nations, this should give us comfort. As we seek to evangelize and share our faith and the good news of the gospel, this should encourage us So often we can get all worked up. You know, if we share our heart and share the gospel and someone just turns and runs, it's like, so what? And they don't believe. We start analyzing, you know, maybe if I said it this way, or, you know, maybe if I changed the message here a little bit, or maybe if I kind of appealed more to their culture, and maybe I shouldn't wear this, maybe I should wear the whole jeans or whatever, or in these days, the skin tight jeans or whatever. He says, no, it's not about that. That's not your responsibility. Your responsibility is just to cast the seed. We're not responsible for the response, just cast the seed. We don't have to try and make an environment and try and tug at their emotions. We don't have to play a certain music to try and have them come forward. We do not change the message, we just give the seed out. We must be faithful to cast it out and trust God with the results. As long as we're faithful and we can articulate the message forth, trust that God will do his work. Conversion belongs to the Lord, not to us. We just are faithful to cast the message. We can all share the gospel, but we can't give life. That's God's work. It doesn't depend on man, but on God. So cast a seed, and then trust in the Lord for his timing. Pray and trust. And then notice what else happens. Look at the text. And the seed sprouts and grows, and he knows not how. So he goes, the sower sleeps. The next day he wakes up, he goes and looks at what he planted, and he sees it sprouted. He did nothing. God worked while he slept. And then not only did it sprout, but it grows. So this means each day he wakes up, he goes to sleep, he goes and checks on it, and it's sprouting up and it's growing. This is a reference to not just does salvation or justification belong to the Lord, but so does sanctification. He's the one who grows us. God is in charge of this as well. And then he adds the phrase, he knows not how. In other words, he's not aware of how it's all growing. He doesn't know the ins and outs, the scientific ways of what makes it do that and the chemicals that must happen and all that. God's in charge of that. He just knows if I plant it, if I plant that, I do my responsibility, I'm gonna trust that if it's in the soil, it's gonna sprout. He wants to emphasize again, he knows not how. He wants to show he has no power to make it grow. John 3, 8 says, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Sounds familiar. So God is in charge of the sprouting. He is in charge of the growing. And from our perspective, this may look like a mystery. We may not know, understand how this all happens. Consider when maybe you've preached the gospel to some, and you look at them and you're like, oh man, if they just hear the gospel, they're definitely gonna be used for the Lord. They're gonna be mighty for the Lord. And you preach the gospel to them, and they just turn around from it, and they're gone. But then you have someone who you, maybe you judge, you're like, he'll never come to the Lord. He'll never, he's too hard to the gospel. But then, and maybe you even refrain from casting a seed to him, and someone else does. And then you see that their life has changed, they're serving the Lord, and you're like, wow, I never would have thought. Because that's what the kingdom's like. The kingdom's like that. We cast the seed and we don't know how this all works. It's God's work, it's his sovereign control here. Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 3, acknowledging that we just take part He says, what is then Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed. And as the Lord assigned to each, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything. In other words, they didn't make it grow. It's God who gives the growth. So we don't know the ins and outs and how this works. It is a mystery. It's part of God's sovereign plan. He's the one who elects and calls, and he chooses to use us as ways to have his gospel message go forth, to participate in his plan. What a privilege. But we may not understand how and why that all works. John 1, 12 says, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of the blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. So God is the one who regenerates. God is the one who keeps and sanctifies. And from our perspective, that might be a mystery. Nevertheless, we are still called to cast the seed. We are called to preach the gospel. Because as Paul says, it is the gospel that is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. We share the truth, we are faithful in casting it out, and we leave the results to God. You can't make a dead man alive. That's God's doing. You can't make a hard heart soft. That's God's work. But you are called to cast the seed. And this is how the kingdom of God is built and grows. It's not with entertainment, it's not by manipulation, but by faithful proclamation of the word. So are you casting the seed in your everyday circles that you find yourselves in? Parents, we all wanna see our kids come to faith. Are you being faithful in casting the seed? Or are you trying to manipulate the work a little bit to try and get a response? You cannot produce the faith. You can proclaim it and pray to God who is the one who gives life. So we've seen the power of the seed does not depend on man. Next, let's consider the growth is certain. Look at verse 28. It says, the earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. The point here is, once it starts, if God really did give life and it sprouts, if it's true life, it's gonna grow to maturity. First, consider like a plant. You have like a little blade of grass that penetrates through the soil. It comes forth. Then with time, it grows. It grows bigger. And then it starts reaching maturity. It produces an ear. And then inside that ear, you get the full grain. And this is the life cycle of a plant that he's illustrating here. He's saying if it starts, it's gonna complete. When we see life and we see this evidence, it's evidence of true faith, that God has changed the heart. God is the one who truly gives life, and if we see that, he will complete it. There's no losing your salvation. This is perseverance of the saints here. Philippians 1.6, I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. So there's a cycle and he's saying, look, if you are faithful in proclaiming the word, if you're casting the seed, if you're letting it fall on the soil, if you're trusting God with the results, and then he brings actually, it actually sprouts and grows, there will be a guaranteed cycle. And then look at verse 29. But when the grain is ripe at once he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. So harvest is the goal of a believer's life. What is the harvest here that he's referring to? There's a lot of debate here amongst commentators on what this is like. I tend to lean on that this is the end of the believer's life. He's been emphasizing individual believer here And so the sickle is that which comes at the end of the life to end the plant. After the life of a believer has reached God's plan for it, reached its goal, it's time for harvest, time for God to bring that believer to everlasting life with him, the sickle comes. Once it's ripe, once the grain has reached ripeness. So God has a plan. He is sovereign, He is in control, He has decided when and where and how long we are here on this earth. Some will have more fruit than others. Some will be 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold. Some will have different levels of maturity. But it's all according to God's plan. In the mind of the Lord, He has a perfect timing. when he calls them home. So when a believer is taken, it's never unexpected for the Lord. There are times it might seem too soon for us, but it's never unexpected for him. It's when he deems it ripe, according to his plan, in God's timing. While we do not have a role in the salvation, we get to participate by scattering. And as the gospel message goes forth, we see the life cycle of a believer here. And it's through that God grows his kingdom. And so Jesus said, this is what the kingdom's like. A sower casts seed, it falls on ground, it grows, you start to see the cycle. Now notice, when did you start to see the fruit? It wasn't all right away. It came, it was a gradual, maybe even slow process, but it bore fruit. It reached maturity, it grew, and it was according to God's plan. While we cannot give life, while we cannot produce the seed to sprout, we get to participate in God's plan by casting seed. And in the end, when the harvest comes, when Jesus comes again, and we're with all the saints of old, we get to enjoy God's harvest. So we must be faithful with casting the seed and trusting God with the results. So we may not see the fruit immediately. It may be in God's timing. but be faithful to Christ. So just by way of application here as well, just a reminder, don't get discouraged when you're sharing your faith and people might reject or people might treat you in a bad way because of the news you shared. Be faithful, proclaim, be bold, rest in the Lord. Trust, this is what he calls you to do, is to cast the seed. You cannot convert. All we can do is cast and rest in his sovereignty, leaving and trusting him with the rest. So we've seen the power of the seed does not depend on man. We've seen that kingdom growth is certain. Now let's consider the kingdom may start small, but grows to the greatest kingdom ever. Look at verse 30. And he said, with what can we compare the kingdom of God or what parable shall we use for it? So it's not like he's asking them, hey, can you give me another illustration? I'm struggling here. No, he's using a rhetorical device, a question to try and spark their interest and draw their attention to him. He goes, what's the best illustration I can give to illustrate the kingdom of God to you? It's an effort to draw his listeners in. Notice the illustration. It is like a grain of mustard seed, which when sown on the ground 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 nest in its shade. So it's like Jesus is like, oh, I got it. I have an illustration. Consider a mustard seed. Now, there's a lot of people, unbelievers, who try and point here and say, see, the Bible is not infallible because Jesus said this was the smallest seed. And they say, we know with time, we were able to see microscopes and we know this is not the smallest seed, so Jesus is wrong here. There's people who've left the faith over that. The idea is Jesus is using hyperbole. And then this is why we've been going through these books here and understanding how to interpret scripture. This is just hyperbole, right? Sometimes you might see Jesus use this in other areas in the gospels. And the whole town came to him. Does that mean every single person, every individual came to him? Probably not. Remember because when he was doing miracles and signs and wonders, it says the whole town came and all were healed. but then the next day more come. So this is hyperbole here. It's an exaggeration to make a point. It doesn't say he's making a scientific claim here. It's not a statement of fact, it's hyperbole, exaggeration for use of illustration. And he wants to give an illustration that these people were familiar with. Many of them had their own personal little square gardens and stuff and they would plant. And so the mustard seed was relatively common to them. So he says, it's like a grain of mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on earth. So he likens the mustard seed here to the kingdom. He says, I know an illustration, consider the mustard seed. You guys all know what that looks like. It's really small. And back then it was about the size of a grain of sand. So it is small. It may not be the smallest seed ever, but it's a very small seed, probably the smallest in their culture that they're aware of. So he goes, consider the mustard seed. It's the kingdom of God's like that. Now they knew what it was. It was one of the smallest seeds, but when planted, it didn't remain that way. The kingdom of God may not appear great here and now in the eyes of men, But with time, it will grow, is his point. On earth, especially early on when the church was just starting, when Jesus is just giving his disciples the commission, they might have been overwhelmed by the task to take the mission to the end of the earth. It might have seemed super small. And so they probably remember this parable that Jesus is saying, oh yeah, the kingdom's like that. You're in the mustard seed phase. Zechariah 4, 6 says, for whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice. So don't despise the small things. That's part of the growing pains, the growing process. God is saying the kingdom of God might start small, but don't lose heart. there's a guaranteed outcome that will happen with this. Look at verse 32. 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. So he goes, this mustard seed, while it's the smallest of the seed, once you plant it, it becomes this huge tree. Now for them back then, a tree was something that was, consider you're living in a desert over there. Now this was more like a huge bush. But consider the proportion. You have this grain of sand like seed that grows into this enormous bush. You probably didn't see that coming. You know, in modern days, we can think of sequoia trees. Their seeds are also relatively small. And if you took that little seed and you said, oh yeah, this is gonna produce this sequoia tree, you'd probably be like, you're out of your mind, you're crazy. But not only that, given time, that one seed can produce a forest of sequoia trees. He goes, so is the kingdom of God. There's massive proportions here. You have this tiny sand-like seed growing into this great thing, and notice he talks about it even becomes larger than any of your other garden plants. So this is a massive thing compared to a little seed that is like the size of sand. And if you're his disciple, if you're an early Christian, this is something that should give you much comfort. Because now you're facing persecution, now you're facing hardships, now you're probably one of the smallest of the religions, and you have your doubts, is this ever really gonna take off? But Jesus gives them assurance here. He says, look, it's gonna become larger than all the plants in the garden and even it's gonna put out branches. While it might begin small, it's gonna become massive. It's gonna be the greatest of all. So while there might be kingdoms on earth that are here, the kingdom of God is gonna grow way beyond them. Compared to how this starts, it's gonna be massive. So be faithful in sowing, be faithful in being a light, and God will grow his kingdom through that. We get to participate in that. In Matthew 28, Jesus gives his great commission to them. He says, Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always. He says, while it looks really small right now, it's gonna become the greatest kingdom ever. Just be faithful, cast a seed, and let God do his work. This should have given assurance. This is why people were willing to die for the faith, because they had this kind of assurance that Jesus gave them. The final outcome of the kingdom is guaranteed. It's gonna be the greatest of all. And this is what we see happening. This is what exactly has happened. Notice it says, so the birds of the air can make their nest in its shade. This might seem of a weird thing here. And I've seen some commentators try to figure out what does he mean here? And they'll look to verse, early in verse, early in chapter four, who were the birds there? Were the birds friendly to the seeds? No, they'd come and snatch the seeds. But this is a slightly different parable. So shouldn't draw a one-to-one correlation right there. It's possible. So one thing that could be said is while God's gonna grow this tree, there'll always be the birds who will be intermixed in this tree in the church. You could take it that way. But I think there's actually some Old Testament weight here that Jesus is drawing on. Turn with me to Ezekiel 17. And in Ezekiel 17, we have the Lord talking about his kingdom, but also all the nations. And notice what he likens the nations to. Starting in verse 22, he says, thus says the Lord God, I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I'll break off from the topmost of its young twigs, a tender one. And I myself will plant it on high and lofty mountain. And on the mountain height of Israel, I will plant it, that it will bear branches and produce fruit and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of bird in the shade of its branches, birds of every sort of nest. And all the trees of the fields shall know that I am the Lord. I bring low the high tree and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord, I have spoken and I will do it. I think Jesus is drawing off this text. And he's actually saying this tree that is being built, that's likened to the kingdom of God, though it starts small, is gonna grow up to be the greatest tree of all. And all the birds are gonna come in its shade and rest. And what are the birds? The nations of the world. The nations of the world are going to participate in this and be sheltered under its shade. And so the nations are described as the birds. While the kingdom starts off mainly under Jewish ties, it benefits the whole world. All nations are comprised of this kingdom. It's not only for Israel, it's for all nations of the world. This is what we see at the end of the Bible, right? Revelation 7, 9. And after this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one can number from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne of the, before the Lamb, clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. And Jesus is saying, this is what the kingdom's like. It's like this tree that starts small, that grows exponentially, and even the birds from around come and flock and rest in its branches and shade. because that's what the kingdom's like. It might look small now, but take heart, it will become the greatest kingdom ever. This is a comfort for Christians. This is assurance for Christians. We live in a time right now where our culture and society wants to call good evil and evil good. We live in a culture right now that's in a continual moral spiral of decay. It may seem like everyone's in opposition to the church. We can feel small, we can feel outnumbered, but we have assurance. God is growing his kingdom as the gospel is faithfully going out. Despite all the things that might seem to make us fearful, the church and the kingdom will still grow, and it'll become the greatest kingdom ever. comprised of all tongues, nations, and tribes. And then look at verse 33. 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. So there are many other parables. You wanna see all the many other parables? You can look at them in Matthew 13, I believe. But here, Mark selects a few to emphasize his point of the kingdom here. Notice he didn't give an interpretation of what this kingdom was like, like he did for the verses one through 20. He said, if you understand this one, you're gonna understand the others. And he's doing this one as a, remember, to conceal for judgment truth on those who do not believe, but to reveal truth to his disciples. So consider hearing that. You don't know the explanation. You don't know the explanation of the soils. That's just some random story. But for the disciples, how much comfort and assurance that gives you. Notice again, as they were able to hear. He spoke the word of them as they're able. So it's only those who are able to hear to understand who can receive God's word. This is why he says in verse nine, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. And again, remember he said earlier, when he says, when he's talking to them, he tells them that the reason they can hear is because he has given it to them. Remember he says when they're around, he says the 12 asked him about the parables. He said, to you it has been given the secret of the kingdom. To you it's been given. It's not something you've deserved. It's not something you just were smarter than everyone else. It's been given to you. I have given you ears to hear, he says. To you it's been given, but for those outside, It's judgment to them. Truth is going out, but they cannot hear because God hasn't given them ears to hear. But for us who can, that's not reason to boast. It's not reason to brag. It's reason to praise God for something you did not deserve. And then it says, he did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. He spoke the truth to those whom he desired to give it to. It's up to him and his sovereign plan. He revealed the explanation to everyone else it was judgment, a form of judgment. And so we've kind of done a 180 here, or a full circle, all the way back to the soils. They can't hear anymore. They need someone to teach them. They need their ears open. They need to be able to hear to comprehend. So as the seed of the gospel goes forth, are you able to hear? Have you been given ears to understand? And if you can't understand, there's much joy and assurance and rest that you should have from this. But if you don't, if this is just going one ear and out the other, if this doesn't make any sense, it's probably an indication of the type of soil you are. And what you need to do is cry out to God that he would cultivate the soil of your heart, that he would soften it, that he would give you the ability to hear his word and truly embrace it and truly love him. So the calls to repent and believe and the gospel, cry out to him that he would change your heart. So though the kingdom is small, might start small, Be encouraged, though it might seem from our perspective small. Be encouraged, God is growing it. It might seem like a slow growth, but it's happening. The kingdom has been growing throughout all redemptive history. Think of the crowd that you would be standing with when harvest comes. Think of all the tribes and nations and tongues that you will stand and sing praises with to the lamb. So because God is sovereign and in control, he will grow his kingdom as a seed of the gospel goes forth. Remember the three ways we see it. The power of the seed to grow doesn't depend on man. Kingdom growth is certain, and the kingdom may start small, but grows to the greatest kingdom ever. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for your word, and we're thankful that you have given us ears to understand by your spirit. Lord, it is not anything we deserve, or it's not because we're so smart. It's because of your supernatural work of regeneration and making a dead heart alive. That's all your work, Lord, because someone was faithful in our lives in casting a seed. Lord, help us to be bold. Help us to be faithful, to cast a seed, and help us to trust you with the results. Help us, Lord, to be praying for those who we may desire to be saved, and help us not to give up on them. Help us, Lord, to be faithful in proclaiming the gospel. It just may not have been in your timing yet for you to call them to repentance. So Lord, we pray for many seeds to be cast on hard hearts and you do a work of regeneration. Lord, we pray during this time as many people are looking for answers of peace and justice, Lord, we know the gospel's the only means by that. And we pray that you would embolden us to proclaim that gospel so that you can use that, we can participate in your plan. and you can bring many people to yourself, bringing true reconciliation, which is only through the blood of Christ. We pray this in Christ's holy name, amen.