Introduction:
A. Let’s begin with a question: How many of you like to garden?
1. Let’s ask a follow-up question: How many of you consider yourselves good gardeners?
2. There is a difference between liking to garden and being good at it, right?
3. I don’t consider myself a gardener, but let me share with you something that someone wrote about gardening called “Things I Have Learned from Gardening.”
a. I have learned that nothing ever looks like it does on the seed packet.
b. I have learned that whichever garden tool you want is always at the back of the shed.
c. I have learned that the only way to ensure rain, is to give the garden a good soaking.
d. I have learned that the only place you can get grass to grow is where you don’t want it to grow, like in the cracks between the patio paving stones.
e. I have learned that when weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it’s not a weed.
B. Last week, we had the privilege of exploring Jesus’ Parable of the Sower and the explanation that Jesus gave about the parable.
1. The parable is a wonderful illustration about sowing the seed of God’s Word and the importance of the condition of the soil of our hearts.
2. One thing we know for sure is that God wants His Word to be sown and He wants people to open their hearts and allow the life of God to grow in us and through us.
3. God wants His kingdom to grow in each individual’s life, and to grow in the number of churches, and to grow in the number of people in churches.
C. Have any of you ever bought the gardening fertilizer called “Miracle Grow”?
1. I have and it’s actually a pretty good product – although the name of the product may be a little boastful or overstated. “Miracle? Not really!”
2. Today I want us to talk about “Miracle Grow for the Kingdom.”
a. It’s not a product we can go buy at the store, rather it has to do with the principles and the power of God.
3. Here in Mark 4, after Mark shared Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, he shared several of Jesus’ other parables that discuss how the kingdom of God grows.
4. Today I want us to explore these parables and adopt and apply Jesus’ principles into our lives so that God’s kingdom can grow in our midst and grow through our efforts.
I. The first “Miracle Grow” principle is: Let It Shine.
A. Mark wrote: 21 He also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.” (Mk. 4:21-23)
1. Jesus presents us with such a simple truth – a light is supposed to shine.
2. We all like the children’s song based on this text, right?
a. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
b. “Hide it under a bushel…NO! I’m gonna let it shine.”
3. A light under a bushel does no good unless you are small enough to get under the bushel and need a light to read.
4. We hang lights from the ceiling or put them on a stand or table so the light can reach the room.
5. We all understand that lamps are not to be hidden, but are to be seen and are to allow us to see.
B. In the parable of the sower, we noticed that the good soil produced a big harvest.
1. God wants us to be good soil that produces a lot of harvest, and that harvest consists of good character and good works.
2. Our good character and good works are supposed to shine like a light in the darkness.
3. We are supposed to strut our character or good works to bring praise to ourselves, but to point to God and bring Him glory.
4. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Mt. 5:14-16)
5. In Philippians 2, Paul admonishes us to have great character so that we can shine like stars in the world against the backdrop of a crooked and perverted generation. (Phil 2:14-15)
a. And Paul said we can do it by holding firm to the word of life. (Phil. 2:16)
6. The power to be a light and live a godly life comes from God through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.
a. We have to stay connected to the power source and allow God to work in us and through us.
C. God knows that for many of us the fear of rejection or fear of persecution may cause us to hide our light or turn it down so it doesn’t draw attention or blind others.
1. God doesn’t want us to hide our light but wants us to let it shine.
2. And as we let it shine, we need to be ready to point to the Lord and testify to God’s goodness.
3. Peter told us to be ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. (1 Pt. 3:16)
4. Hopefully when people see our joy or our patience or our service to others, they will ask us why we are the way we are or why we do what we do, and then we can tell them.
5. So, the first “Miracle Grow” principle of the kingdom is “Let It Shine.”
II. The second “Miracle Grow” principle is: Use It or Lose It.
A. Mark wrote: 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” (Mk. 4:24-25)
1. In these verses, Jesus was explaining the law of increase.
a. So often in life, we are rewarded by the effort that we put forth, and what we receive is often in direct proportion to what we give.
2. This is certainly true of learning: the more a person studies the more they get from their studies.
a. How many times have you heard someone say: “Well I didn’t get anything out of that class”?
b. But if you ask them: “How much effort did you put into the class? They will often say not much.”
c. If a person doesn’t pay close attention in class or do the assigned reading and homework, then they probably aren’t going to get much out of the class, right?
3. This is certainly true about worship, or Bible classes, or personal devotional times – what we get out of it is in relation to how much effort we put into it.
4. This also applies to our relationships in the church, or with friends and family.
B. And when it comes to kingdom growth it is an important principle.
1. When God gives us abilities and opportunities, then we need to use them or we lose them.
2. And the more we use them the more God will bless their use and will give even more.
3. Every power or capacity that is not used experiences atrophy.
4. Consider the body builder – the more he or she trains, the more their body grows and the more their body can do.
a. But on the other hand, if they abandon their training program their abilities will diminish.
5. Consider the learning of a language – how many of us took a language in school?
a. What happened when we stopped using the language we learned? We lost the ability we had developed, right?
6. The same is true in the realm of spiritual things – if we use what God has given us, then He will give us more, but if we don’t use it, we will not get more and will lose what we have.
a. This can apply to abilities, opportunities, time and treasure.
7. Spiritual fruit will grow in our lives and the kingdom of God will grow when each of us use what God has given us, and in the end, we will see a multiplied harvest of spiritual things.
III. The third “Miracle Grow” principle is: God Makes It Grow.
A. Mark wrote: 26 “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.” (Mk. 4:26-29)
1. Although this is a very short parable, it has several important truths about kingdom growth.
B. The first truth is that as human beings, we are helpless to make the kingdom grow.
1. We are as helpless to make the kingdom grow as the farmer is helpless to make the seed grow.
2. The farmer plants the seed, but the seed sprouts and grows and he does really understand how.
a. The seed has the secret of life and growth within itself – this is by God’s design.
3. Truth is: humans have never been able to create anything in the full sense of that word.
a. Humans can discover things, we can rearrange things, or develop them, but we cannot create something from nothing – only God can do that.
4. It is important for us to understand that we cannot create the kingdom of God nor can we make the kingdom of God grow – only God can do that.
a. On the negative side, we can frustrate or hinder the growth of God’s kingdom by our actions or lack of actions.
b. And on the positive side, we can establish an environment where the kingdom is given opportunity to grow more fully and quickly.
c. But God doesn’t want us to try to grow the kingdom through human ingenuity, emotional manipulation, market-driven strategies, or any other kind of coercion.
5. Growth only comes because God created the kingdom and the seed of the kingdom and has infused power and life in the Gospel.
6. Paul explained it this way: 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. (1 Cor. 3:6-7)
7. So, truth is: Only God can make it grow.
8. All that farmer and the kingdom builder can do is trust in the One who created the seed and be faithful to plant the seed, water the seed, and weed the soil.
C. A second truth we find in this parable is that the kind of growth God brings is gradual and continual.
1. We know that nature’s growth is constant – night and day, while we go about our business, nature continues to grow.
a. I like the springtime as the flowers and leaves sprout and grow.
b. Every day when we wake up, we see that while we slept everything kept growing.
c. I don’t like how fast the grass grows in the spring, it is hard to keep up with it, right?
2. God’s growth of the kingdom is like this – we can trust that God is growing His kingdom gradually and continually.
a. Although our efforts to build God’s kingdom might not be regular and constant, because we often get distracted or have a hard time being disciplined, we can trust that God is at work.
b. Thankfully, the growth of God’s kingdom isn’t completely dependent on us.
3. God is in control and He never quits, so we can trust that His kingdom will grow quietly and unceasingly.
D. A final principle we find in this parable is that the harvest is inevitable because of God’s promise.
1. There is nothing so powerful as growth.
a. A tree can split a concrete sidewalk with the power of growth.
b. a weed can push its little green head through an asphalt driveway.
2. And nothing can ultimately stop the growth of God’s kingdom.
a. Satan is trying desperately to stop it, but he can’t.
b. In spite of our rebellion or disobedience, God’s work goes on.
3. And wrapped up in this truth is the promise that if we are faithful, we will reap a harvest.
a. God will use our faithful efforts to accomplish His purposes.
b. And if we do not give up, then we will receive our reward.
c. Paul encouraged us: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal. 6:9)
4. God is the only one who can make it grow and therefore there will be a harvest.
IV. The fourth “Miracle Grow” principle is: Big Things Come in Small Packages.
A. Mark wrote: 30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.” (Mk. 4:30-32)
1. For the people listening to Jesus, this parable would have been a powerful illustration.
a. In that time and place, the mustard seed stood proverbially for the smallest possible thing.
b. The mustard seed was about the size of a grain of sand.
c. In another parable Jesus suggested that if they had the faith of a mustard seed they could move mountains – so even a small faith had big effects.
d. Even though the mustard seed was so small, it did in fact grow into a plant as big as a tree, some 10 feet in height.
e. It is common to see a cloud of birds in a mustard plant, because birds are fond of mustard seeds.
2. What was Jesus trying to teach His disciples by this parable?
a. He was teaching them to never be daunted by small beginnings because big things come in small packages.
b. Jesus was assuring His disciples that the work He had called them to would produce something far beyond anything they could imagine.
c. God’s kingdom would be extensive despite its small beginning.
B. Christian history furnishes a stunning commentary on this parable.
1. It all started with a Messiah with a humble beginning in Bethlehem and who then came out of an obscure village in Nazareth.
2. That unknown carpenter turned preacher and a pitifully small group of ordinary, uneducated men took and shook the world.
3. Even after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, the group that gathered in Jerusalem numbered only 120.
4. But then 120 became 3000, and then by the end of the book of Acts the Word had spread to most of the Roman empire.
C. As big as God’s kingdom is today, the work that still remains to be done is way bigger than you and me, but God continues to use small packages to accomplish big things.
1. God can take our little faith and small faithfulness and move mountains.
2. God can take us ordinary individuals and minister in extraordinary ways.
3. God doesn’t need us to be important or famous or wealthy or gifted to grow His kingdom, rather God just needs us to be His and to be available to Him.
4. We simply offer ourselves to God and God does the rest.
Conclusion:
A. I hope that all of us want to see God’s kingdom grow.
1. I hope that all of us want to be used by God to make His kingdom grow.
B Where can we begin? What does God want us to do?
1. First, we must remember that God wants us to “Let Our Lights Shine.”
a. Jesus is the light of the world and He shines through us.
b. Let’s be like Jesus wherever we are and wherever we go.
c. Let’s serve and love like Jesus served and loved.
d. And when we have opportunity let’s share the Gospel and tell about God’s goodness.
2. Second, we must remember to “Use It or Lose It.”
a. Let’s put our knowledge and abilities and opportunities to good use.
b. When we employ those things, then we trust that God will use them and will give us more.
3. Third, we must remember that in the end “Only God Can Make It Grow.”
a. Our job is to plant and water the seed, but only God can make it grow.
b. Our job is faithfulness not success.
c. God’s promise is that when we faithfully do our part, then He will use it to bring about a harvest.
d. God is responsible for the results and the rewards.
4. Finally, we must remember that “Big Things Come in Small Packages.”
a. We should never be daunted by small beginnings.
b. Like the boy with the 5 loaves and 2 fish, God can feed a multitude.
c. God doesn’t require us to give what we don’t have, but to employ what we have and apply ourselves and let God do the multiplying.
C. We trust that God wants our church family to grow in maturity, number, and influence.
1. In the end, we can’t make anything grow, only God can.
2. But what we can do is offer ourselves to God wholeheartedly.
3. We can walk daily with God and put into practice the spiritual principles and practices that God has taught us.
4. When we do that, God can do extraordinary things through us if He choses to.
5. But even if extraordinary things are not what God does through us, we can know that God is pleased with what we have allowed God to do in us and through us.
6. It’s not about us; It’s all about God!
Resources:
• Truth for Today Commentary: Mark 1-8 and 9-16, Martel Pace, Resources Communications.
• Miracle Grow – for the Kingdom, Sermon by David Owens
• Parables of Growth, Sermon by Nate Shinn
