As a congregation of the Lord, we are thankful that every week we can hear what his will for his people is. And we find that in Exodus chapter 20, the law of the Lord, our God. And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord, thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, In it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son or thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day. Wherefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor thy father and thy mother. that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. To these ten, our Lord added an eleventh, that we ought to love one another as he loves us. We turn now to the Gospel of John on this Easter morning. A rather unusual chapter, perhaps, for the consideration of his resurrection. but one that is really full of meaning when we consider how the death and burial and resurrection of Christ are united for our salvation. So hopefully as we go along, we'll see that. John, chapter 12, and we'll begin with verse 20. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast. And the same came, therefore, to Philip, which was of the said of Galilee and desired him saying, Sir, we would see Jesus. Philip cometh and telleth Andrew and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus. And Jesus answered him, saying, The hour is come and that the son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me. And where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. The people, therefore, that stood by and heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel spake to him. Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out and die. If I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me. This, he said, signifying what death he should die. The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. And how sayest thou the son of man must be lifted up? Who is this son of man? And Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus and departed, and did hide himself from them. And we'll read just that far in the Gospel of John. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, you could imagine at the cross When Jesus' body was there, lifeless, the Jewish leaders were satisfied, and they would slowly return to their places, thinking to have triumphed over their enemy, Christ Jesus. You picture the women. who came there to see the end, going home, preparing a few spices to anoint his body once the Sabbath day was past. Picture the disciples who, fulfilling what Jesus said, they scattered from him, they abandoned their master, and they were mourning his death. On Easter mornings, It came almost as a trickle. First, Mary Magdalene. And. The first message was the grave was empty, but we didn't know where he was. And then a couple of disciples. Women. And then the reports start coming in. We saw him. And one after another saw him, the travelers to Emmaus, the women on the way back from the sepulcher, Mary Magdalene at the grave, Peter even. He was alive. The father was so interested that we should know this to be true, that he allowed his risen son to be seen by over 500 people, eyewitnesses of the resurrection. And beloved, the same is true today, not that we see Jesus with visible eyes. But there are eyewitnesses in this room that Jesus lives. This morning, we are not going to, as we often do on Easter, look at the particulars of the resurrection narrative, the history. But I thought to make this as absolutely simple as possible also for our boys and girls to understand. I'm going to take a part of scripture where Jesus, in the simplest of terms, in terms that we can just look out our window and harvest time and summertime and see what he's speaking of. A beautiful illustration, not only of his resurrection, but of our resurrection. The only complicated thing about this sermon is going to be keeping in mind that when Jesus died, believers died. And we'll explain in what way. When Jesus rose again, believers rose again. When Jesus ascended, we ascend with him. And so we'll try our best to keep those two clear and side by side because Jesus' resurrection has everything to do with us today. Our text is John 12, verse 24. Verily, verily, so truly, truly, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, It bringeth forth much fruit. Our theme is life from death, fruits from Jesus' death and resurrection. In the first place, without death, there is no life. In the second place, without life, there is no fruit. And in the third place, without fruit, there is no harvest. Now, admittedly, John chapter 12 takes place less than a week before Jesus dies. Lazarus had just recently been raised from the dead. Mary had also anointed Jesus feet for his burial. Jesus had already made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. And there were there was anticipation growing that the king was finally going to be crowned. that liberation was at hand. Word came to Christ that even Greeks, Gentiles we would say, wanted to know and to meet Jesus. And when Jesus hears this, he says in verse 23, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Now, one would have hardly guessed from those words that he was about to die on an accursed cross. disciples and the people seemed somewhat oblivious to the multiple foretellings of his suffering and death and his resurrection. Here is was the king riding as it were triumphantly into the capital city Jerusalem. And we can just about predict that his disciples were filled with anticipation now at last The kingdom was coming. Now, at last, one would sit on his right hand and the other on his left. Didn't Jesus say the hour is now come when he would be glorified? But then he continues. He continues with the word of our text. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. You could imagine the disciples and whoever else heard it wondering, what does that have to do with his glory? But Jesus, with these words, turns our attention to a very easy to understand, a very common example from everyday life. If it wasn't still chilly in this time of year, we could literally look out our windows to see what he was talking about. He begins to speak about a corn that is a grain of wheat. He says, except a, we'll just say it that way, a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. Now, boys and girls, I don't know if you still do this in school. We did it when we were young. The teacher would have you take a clear plastic cup, perhaps, and you fill it with soil. And you put in there a seed that hopefully near the edge of the cups you can see what's going on. And you put some water in there and you watch it. Now at first nothing really seems to happen. There sits the seed in the soil and nothing changes. But then you notice it almost looks like that seed is dying. It's starting to fall apart. It almost looks like it's rotting in the soil. But then you notice something. Out of what seemed to be a dead seed, you see a little root starting to come out of that seed going down. And then you see this green shoot starting to come up from that seed. Now, if you multiply that by how many, any of the fields around your home, around us here, you see that happening millions and millions of times. where in the springtime you see just rows and rows of those little green shoots. That seed is alive. And Jesus uses that very simple picture to talk about his own death and his resurrection. Scripture says, Isaiah particularly says, that if we would have seen Jesus when he was upon earth, there was nothing striking about his appearance, that we would have thought, now that's the Messiah. There was no form nor comeliness. Beauty, says Isaiah, that we should desire him. People looked at him and saw an ordinary man or maybe a prophet at best. Without faith, people thought Jesus was just like they were. But this was a very precious seed, dear friends. Jesus was the seed about which he was talking about. He came unto his own, his own received him not. How can I say he was that seed? Well, boys and girls, surely you know the very first promise in the Bible, right? Genesis 3.15. Already God is talking about seeds. I will put enmity between thee, Satan, and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, thou shalt bruise his heel. And God didn't stop talking about seeds. Then, to Abraham, he made this promise. I will establish my covenant between thee, me and thee, and thy seed after thee. Who is that seed? Well, in Galatians 3 verse 16, we find out Paul writes now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made and he saith not and to seeds as of many. But as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ. And the Spirit goes on to point out that God's covenant is confirmed, is made solid and sure through the seed. This Christ is the yea and amen of every promise. So what did Jesus mean when he said, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone? Well, if we look at the natural situation, and this morning, just for the sake of illustration, I'm going to use corn instead of wheat because I think we can sort of picture that maybe. It's a little more common in our area. So you think about that little seed. It's just one kernel, right? If you were going to do that experiment, children, it would just be that one dried up seed of corn. And you can't make a meal out of that one little seed. You can't serve your guests with that one little thing. It's just one kernel. And if you don't plant it, it just sits there. And it'll sit there for years if it's kept dry. But once that seed is planted, once you add moisture, soil, sunshine, warmth, it begins to change, breaks down, show signs of life and so on. And boys and girls, so Jesus had to die. All the time he was alive, he was obeying the law of God perfectly. We need that. We need that perfect life given to us because our life is far from perfect. It's full of sin. We call that perfect life his active obedience. He actively obeyed the law of God. And that obedience is given to all who believe by faith, so that when we stand before God, he sees that perfect life in place of our life. But since we've sinned, those sins need to be, we would say it this way, paid for. And Jesus did that too. He died for sins. We heard about that Thursday night. I'm sorry, Friday night, where his blood, his pierced heart was like a fountain open for sin and uncleanness to all manner of sinners. And so we think about that, how he died, and we theologians call that his passive obedience, where he was stricken, slain for our sake. But here it is, boys and girls, take a moment to think about Calvary. Calvary, we read, was a little bit of a hill, the place where Jesus died. On that hill, A seed was planted and that seed was Jesus Christ. If he hadn't died, just like that kernel of corn, nothing would have happened. That corn stays forever until it's planted. And when Jesus died and was buried, something happened. In order for us to have any hope of spiritual life, if any of us are going to ever be saved, Christ had to die. Paul says to the Corinthians, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. So if Christ's body had not been broken on the cross, had not been buried, we would say planted in the grave on Good Friday. There would be no spiritual life, there would be no hope at all. But now here's where we need to just see. Jesus, in a certain sense, did not die alone. And I'm not talking, children, about the thief on the one side and the other on the other. No. Here's where scripture teaches us that when Christ died, believers in a certain sense died with him. And that doesn't mean that believers need to be nailed to a cross like Jesus was. But we need to experience this crucifixion. We need to experience it spiritually if we ever hope to enjoy spiritual life. Now, what does it mean to be crucified with Christ? Well, in order for our old man to die the way we are naturally, God begins to show us what we're actually like. Now, you may say, well, I already know what I'm like. Well, maybe you do to some extent, but God begins to show us things we didn't see before. sins in our life that didn't so much bother us before, if they did, not for very long. And God begins to uncover these things so that we begin to become quite sad. You remember we heard on Good Friday how all the suffering that Jesus went through. Well, in a certain sense, when God begins to show us some of our sins and some of our evil heart, we begin to also grieve. We feel smitten. We begin to understand how those ten commandments we read a minute ago, they're pretty big, they're pretty broad, they're pretty deep. We begin to see that our anger is in fact murder like Jesus taught and how our lusting is in fact adultery as he taught. And being crucified with Jesus even goes deeper than that because In a shorter or longer period of time, God begins to show us boys and girls that there's something wrong with our very heart. Now, I'm not talking about the organ in your chest that pumps blood. I'm talking about your spiritual insides. And he begins to show us, you remember that seed that looked rotten as it was beginning to break down? That's how we begin to see our hearts, that they're really rotten by nature, that no matter how good we might look on the outside, as God begins to show us what's going on on the inside, we begin to see nothing but rottenness. And you can't fix it. Try as we might. And so we begin to see that not only our wicked self, but even our Christian self is full of sin and is in need of crucifixion. And just like Jesus had to die completely, not just suffer for a while and then come off the cross okay, but he had to go all the way through to death, so do we. Now, what's interesting about what Jesus is teaching us, where does that breaking down happen? Do you see it happen? Well, I use the example of that clear cup. Then you would see it. But if you look at the fields, you don't see the seed breaking down. That happens all under the ground in secret. And so it is in spiritual life. The struggling sinner feels the warfare inside. And that battle to the death goes on in our heart. It's not a pleasant process. It cuts. It pains. It shows us things about ourselves. We, quite frankly, don't want to see. But we need to see. It's like somebody who's ill going to the doctor. And even though they don't want to hear the bad news, they need to hear it. Otherwise, they remain ill. And just like that seed breaking down, if we would see it happening, it is not pretty. So what we see is not pretty either. But here is the beautiful news, boys and girls. This is necessary. And even a beautiful work of God, no chastening, says the scripture, seems to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, The peaceable fruit of righteousness is yielded unto them which are exercised thereby. I don't think any farmer would go out into the field and start digging up all those seeds because he feels sorry for them that they're all breaking down. You would think, what kind of a farmer is that? He knows that process is necessary for something to happen, for the crop that he's looking for to grow. So out of that death, out of our death, spiritually, comes spiritual life. And that's our second thought. Without life, there is no fruit. Jesus goes on to say, but if it die, it bringeth forth. That's exactly why God designed the seed the way he did. He knew, of course, what he was doing. And that process of breaking down was necessary to bring forth life. Jesus said the same thing about his own suffering and death. He said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Paul, writing to Timothy, says something along the same lines. He says, Jesus Christ hath abolished, that means done away, abolished death and brought life and immortality, that means eternal life, to light. through the gospel. Now, I think most of us are familiar with the expression, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. How much more true it is that the blood of Jesus Christ is the life of the church. It speaks better things as the book of Hebrews than the blood of Abel, which cries for vengeance. And that's also true of us as believers, isn't it? Didn't the psalmist say, it was good for me to have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes? Paul said, when he learned that the thorn in his flesh was not going away, he realized that he needed it. And he concludes by saying, most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, why, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. To the Romans, he says, likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ the Lord. Peter writes, we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes, Christ's suffering, you are healed. What an amazing morning that must have been. on resurrection morning, the saddest and darkest of scenes, a place where the body of Jesus was buried, that in the early morning light came forth a living, resurrected Savior. And it is just also beautiful to see a boy or a girl, a young man or a young woman, coming from a dead life of sin and worldliness. And all of a sudden, life springs up out of that seemingly dead person. And you begin to see little signs of change and beauty and growth in that life. And just like that little seedling which pushes its way up through the soil into the open air for all to see, so the resurrected Jesus couldn't be hid, it would be known. And that same truth is being told all over the world today and on many days. And it's a marvel to see the transformation that that news is making in the lives of young and old, in different nations, in different languages, and all around. And also, the same is true of us. The resurrection of a new life cannot be hid. And maybe there are some of us who, when God first began to work, we struggled, whether it was true, whether it was a work of God or our own doing. And maybe we're a little bit embarrassed to make it known to others. What would I say? How would I express it? But, you know, it can't be hid because it's God's plan that it be known. He wants to see people bearing his image and joying in him all over. And so try as you might, you can't hide the work of God in your life. People see it. Even if we can't see it ourselves, the farmer sees it and people who look on the field see it. And it can't be denied because it's the life that flows out of Christ's life. And what a morning that was. Resurrection morning, having spoiled principalities and powers. He made a show of them openly triumphing over them. Can you imagine the change of disposition in Satan on resurrection morning? He thought he had him. And up from the grave he arose, a mighty victor over his foes. And Satan was devastated. He knew it was coming. And there it came. But you know, through this death and resurrection, dead sinners have access to the living God. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and a living way, which he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, our bodies washed with pure water. You know, there may be somebody sitting here who's backslidden. You've known the ways of God and maybe you're not where you were. And you don't know what's happening or where this is going to end. You know, you too are not to abide alone. Because Jesus said, if the seed abides alone, it does not live. But here is a word of God for you. God tells his servants, go and proclaim these words and say, return, thou backslidden Israel. Saith the Lord, I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep my anger forever. Do you hear that? He's saying, if you are in a bad place right now, spiritually, God says, I want you back. You can just come to me with all of your brokenness and all of your unfaithfulness and I will receive you and I will cleanse you again. And here actually is a source of our spiritual life as believers. Are we fearful about spiritual darkness? He says, I am come, a light into the world, whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. Do we crave maybe a fuller, a deeper prayer life? Answers to prayer. He says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. Do we want to know if there's a way to remain lively and conscious of God's favor in our life? Well, then he would say that we need to abide with the risen Savior. Now, you realize that when that seed dies in the soil, boys and girls, the growth is kind of small. We like to grow things in our garden, and it's amazing when you see some of these little plants, they look like the least puff of wind could blow them over. They're so spindly and weak, and you have to treat them so tenderly. And then when you look at them later, you say, how could that have been that? Look at how tall it's grown. We've planted corn that we had from days in Arkansas. It's not the right kind of corn for around here. But I have pictures of corn in our backyard that was about 10 to 12 feet high. No kidding. We've got pictures of it. Now, the corn wasn't so great, but one little seed produced that. And you'd say, how is that possible? Well, God makes it possible. So you might be sitting here this morning thinking, I'm just nothing. I have no potential. I'm just a poor sinner and insignificant in that. Oh no, don't think that way. Because God can make of you a pillar in the house of the Lord, fruitful and alive. In the parable of the sower, you notice that some of the seed never grew. Some grew and withered. Temptations, afflictions, persecution. I've said to some of you young people, and it goes for us adults, too, when you go out of church, don't go right away talking about what happened this week or what's happening next week and all that, because Jesus says Satan loves to just come and take everything you heard in church right out of your mind. Pluck the seed right out of your mind. Well, don't do that. Encourage each other to think about what you've heard and talk about that. Instead, maybe you're not used to it. Well, encourage each other to become used to it. And then talk about those other things as you have opportunity in other occasions. But then there was also those who were choked by pleasures and cares and deceitfulness of riches. But when God plants a seed, it grows. Now, there may be hard frosts. of spiritual declension. There may be buffeting winds of slander against you. There may be stormy trials. There may be searing heat of temptation and persecution. But when united to the corn of wheat that was planted on Calvary, you will survive and you will thrive. God will preserve you. And you will be able, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, to withstand whatever comes your way from within or from without, because it's God who planted it. But God plants the seed of Christ in the earth to bring forth life, not just in the disciples, not just in the 120 in the upper room, not just in the 500 brethren who saw him, not just in the 2,000 or 3,000 or 5,000 in the Book of Acts. No, that planting, that growth up from the grave was for many. Spiritually, we call that many a harvest. And in a moment, we're going to consider that harvest. Without fruit, there is no harvest. Pretend for a second, boys and girls, that you are a farmer. And maybe some of you are little farmers already. What do you do during the winter? I mean, you can't go out in the fields, you can't plow, you can't plant, you can't cultivate. What do you do all winter? Well, you'll be preparing and repairing, maybe building a little bit, onto the barn or maybe repairing some equipment and ordering things for the next year. And then there's the days of planting, so much work, long hours. Now, why did you work so hard during the winter and during planting and plowing and all of that? Why did you do that? What were you looking forward to? Can you picture a farmer going out into the field, pretend it's early spring, the little green shoots are up, he goes walking out into his field, he sees those green shoots, he goes there. I'm perfectly satisfied now. These little shoots are exactly what I, all I need to see. Well, he's not going to say that. Why not? Because that's not all he's looking for, is it? It's encouraging, to be sure. So you wait a few more months and the farmer is still waiting and he's praying and he's working through those months. Do you think he goes out in midsummer? Stalks are high, leaves are green. Now I'm satisfied. Those stalks and leaves are all I need to see. No, he doesn't say that either. There could be weeks of drought. There could be too much rain. There could be a hailstorm, wipes it all out. So, what's he do? He's waiting, he's praying, he's working. Well, what is it that he's waiting for? What would really satisfy him? Well, that's obvious, right? The harvest time. Bringing in the grain. And Jesus says the same thing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except of corn, if we fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. And that's exactly, beloved congregation, what God is focused on. on the fruit. Jesus says in Matthew 5.16, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. John 15.8, same thing. Jesus says, Herein, in this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, so shall you be my disciples. And this is the great goal, isn't it? from the death and the resurrection and the ascension and the reigning of Christ. That's the goal. If it dies, he says, it brings forth much fruit. There's a beautiful verse in Psalm 72, verse 16. There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains. The fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon. That's Jesus. When Jesus died, we literally heard from the gospel narrative, there was an earthquake. The rocks were split. Bodies of several saints were raised from the dead. When Jesus died, the veil of the temple tore from top to the bottom. Inviting, welcoming sinners into the very presence of God. Can I put it this way? One seed planted on Calvary brought forth all of this, all what's in this room. And that one seed on Calvary brought forth all of the churches of our denomination and all of the churches in all denominations, all true believers all over the world, all true believers who ever lived, all true believers who ever will live. One seed, planted that day, sprouting on resurrection morning, brought forth a harvest that scripture says can't even be calculated. Could you imagine a farmer saying, I finally gave up trying to measure what my harvest was. I had so much grain, all the scales were broken under the weight of it. I just lost count. And what an amazing thing that is. That's what we read in another place. I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. When you think about harvest time, boys and girls, let's go back to that illustration of corn. because I think we can see that maybe a little clearer. When you take a good look at the cob of corn, what do all those kernels on the cob of corn look like? Oh, wait a minute. They look like that seed. They resemble that seed. In fact, in the days before, like, hybridization and all that, you could have taken those kernels of corn, put them in the ground and they would have grown plants of their own. There is a resemblance between the fruit and the original seed. And that's exactly what God does when He brings forth His harvest. The spirit who work to break down our natural wretchedness and make us spiritually alive He molds us and he forms that newborn believer more and more to resemble the Christ, the original seed, whom he did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, writes Paul. Now, here's another thing. If you would go out into the fields a little bit early, You're going to see the cobs, all right, but they're not quite fully formed. But over time, if things are right, they will mature. They'll fell out. They'll ripen. You know, that's true in our lives, too, dear believer, whether you're a child who believes in the Lord or whether you're an older person who does. By various means, God is ripening us and conforming us. Now, we may not see that so clearly in ourselves, but that's okay. The farmer sees it. Others looking on the field see it. What are those precious fruits that God makes spring up in our lives? Well, he says, the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, Gentleness, goodness, faith, weakness, temperance. In another place, Ephesians five, you were sometimes darkness. Now are you light in the Lord? Walk as children of light for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. Is that our prayer? that our lives would be more and more like Jesus. You may wonder, how do I get that way? Because we look at ourselves in the spiritual mirror of God's law and say, I'm a long way from looking like Jesus. Well, how do we get more like that also as a believer? Well, we have that answer to from scripture, we all. with open face, beholding as in a glass, that would have been in those days a mirror, the glory of the Lord, changed into that same image from glory to glory, how? By the Spirit of the Lord. So as we're looking into the looking glass of Scripture, What we're going to see in that spiritual mirror as we're gazing upon Christ is an increasing likeness to the Savior. To make it as simple as I can say it, the more we look at Christ. And not looking at Christ for what he can make us, not looking at Christ so that our business can be blessed, not looking at Christ so our marriage can be better, looking at Christ because he is Christ. Loving him because he is so inestimably lovely. That gaze, that communion, that studying of him in scripture transforms us. So we needn't be transformed in order to see him. We need to see him in order to be transformed. We don't need to be made more like him in order to be liked by him. We need to love him and look at him to be more like him. And, you know, a good farmer keeps an eye on his crop. He doesn't just have a date on a calendar harvest now. There's all kinds of situations and circumstances that may make him delay or maybe harvest a little bit earlier than normal. You ever notice something, though? I know there's different kinds of corn that people grow, but to those of us who don't know much about farming, it more or less looks like corn. So you have these one little seeds turning into that one plant with all those seeds on every cob. Some stalks, maybe two or three, if you really got a good crop. And then you see a whole field. So all those little kernels on that cob are all lined up and together. Then you have all these stalks lined up and together in a field. Then you have many fields all lined up in the county. That's the church. And it came from one seed. One seed. That's the power, boys and girls, of Jesus' resurrection. That He could produce a world full of united, resembling Christ people. Every one of God's children are going to resemble Christ. But now here's the thing. I was just saying a minute ago that the farmer doesn't look on a calendar and say, OK, this is the day I have to do this. He looks at the weather. He looks at the maturity. And that's a lesson for us, too. A farmer might miscalculate and harvest too soon. And so the crop isn't quite as good as it might have been. He might be missing the boat and for whatever reason he harvest too late and then the quality is reduced too. That never happens with the Lord. And I say this with as much tenderness as I can. In one case, the child dies while still tender of age, plucked away, as it were, from grief-stricken parents. But not a moment too soon, because that little cob of corn was ready. Perhaps that child was very small, And yet, it doesn't mean it can't be fully ripe. And so the Lord of Harvest, at the very perfect moment, brings that little corn into His garner to be with Him. There lies an aged saint. The world says that person's outlived their usefulness. Relatives and family members may say, what purpose? Does God have for that person suffering the way they do living with all these infirmities? Well, the answer is simple. It's not quite right. Our times are in God's hands. And so in Scripture, we see that little child of the wicked King Jeroboam, there was good, says the Lord, to be found in him. He was taken in his infancy. in his youth. But over there is an Apostle John, who outlived all the others by quite a bit. He's taken later. There, Stephen, at the precise moment of his spiritual ripeness, as he's being bombarded with the rocks of martyrdom, is plucked by the heavenly husbandmen. Never too soon. Never too late. But now I would be remiss not to talk about another harvest. Revelation 14, 19, the angels thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. So if we have never come to know Our ugliness, our wretchedness. If we've never come to Christ as the only place to have that wretchedness addressed, that is going to be us. Jesus warns us in John 15, I am the true vine. My father is the husband and every branch in me. So, this covenantal relationship we have with the Lord, that bears not fruit, He takes away. If a man abide not in Me, abide in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. Why are you still here? Well, James says the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patience for it." How incredibly patient God is with us, isn't he? All of us. How many times hasn't the husbandman, as it were, stayed his hand from cutting us down? Jesus talks about that too, right? Let alone, this year also, until I dig about it and dung it, and if it bear fruit, well. If not, And after that, thou shalt cut it down. How many warnings? How many invitations? And how many more does God owe you? He didn't owe you any. And yet, see His perseverance with us. And in fact, we have to say it this way, scripturally speaking, that our fruitlessness as unbelievers is a burden to God's earth. You know, we get rid of dogs that bite the hands of the masters who feed them. And must God complain of some of us, the ox knoweth his owner, the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. But, you know, here's the good news. Our heavenly husband, our heavenly farmer, is so skilled that he can literally take a lifeless, fruitless branch, engraft it into the vine that is his son, and cause it to live, and to bear fruit. So don't think you're beyond that. Ask it of him. Those that follow him, testify that there is nothing but gain in doing so. Jesus promised it. Everyone that have forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my namesake shall receive a hundredfold. And shall inherit everlasting life. So do you trust what the world is promising you, what sin is promising you, what your friends are promising you in a life of Distance from God or do you trust what Christ is promising you as you follow him? And dear believer, just finishing up with this analogy that Jesus gives us, we could say a few more frosts. A few more days of burning sun. A few more storms. And then it will be finished. And the amazing thing, unlike any farmer on earth, this savior has his eye on every single kernel, on every single cob, on every single stalk, in every single field, and all the fields of the earth at once. He knows when each of us has reached that point, when it's time. And he cares for us. He says, are two sparrows sold for a farthing? One of them shall not fall to the ground even without your father. The very hairs of your head are all numbered so that by faith we can say when he has tried us, we shall come forth as gold. He has taken great pains to bring us to life and to mature that work in us. He would lose more, reverently speaking, if we went lost than we would lose, so much as he invested in us. And he's promised, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. Harvest. That where I am, there you may be also. And that's a place where there's no more storms, no more scorching temptations, no more afflictions, no more night and no more death. And so to those unsettled souls among us, remember that there is but one door to the sheepfold. I am the door by me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out. What did Boaz say to Ruth? It was really good advice for us today. Go not to glean in another field. Abide by this one. He's not talking about a church. He's talking about a Savior. Don't let me catch you, Jesus would say, in the fields of sin in the world, seeking fulfillment there. Abide in my field, and you will be well satisfied. The soil of God's church is fertilized by the blood of His Son. When that blood touches the seed of His Word, there is life. Just like that water touching that seed in the warmth of the soil brings forth life. And if Jesus, while nailed to the cross, prays for His Father to forgive those who did so. Will He not much more pray for you as you cling to Him by faith? Today, we look above. Our risen Savior is at the right hand of the Father. And through His marvelous work on earth, but also through His marvelous work, praying for, pleading for His people. He's still bringing forth an abundant harvest all over the world, wherever the seed of His Word is sown. And may we not rest until what we find in Romans 7 is clearly written over every one of our lives. Wherefore, my brethren, Ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Amen.