The Kingdom No.2 The State Secret - The Seed

Oh creatures of the God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, Alleluia, Alleluia! Thou burning sun with golden beam, Thou silver moon with softer gleam, O praise Him, O praise Him, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Thou rushing wind that art so strong, Ye clouds that sail in heav'n alone, O praise Him, Alleluia, Thou rising morn in praise rejoice, In lights of evening find a voice, O praise Him, O praise Him, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! There's all things that create and dwell, And worship Him in heaven, O praise Him, Alleluia, The whole earth is full of His glory, The whole earth is full of His glory, The whole earth is full of His glory, Holy be the Lord! And all ye men of tender heart, Forgiving others take your part, O sing out, Alleluia! Praise the Father, praise the Son, And praise the Holy Spirit, one and all, O praise Him, O praise Him, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! Praise the Lord with me, come praise the Lord, Worthy is He to be praised and adored, Let us together His glories proclaim, Joining our voices to honor His name. He died and He was crucified, Pardon He did provide, Pardon He did provide. With a tomb He lay, Dead on His grave, He tore the bars away, He tore the bars away.

O in His body He carries the cross, He is alive, We might shout to the stars, Shout to the stars. Some day He's coming from heaven's bright throne, Coming of kingdoms to claim as His own, Coming in glory with paradise above, All eyes shall see Him, King of all. Jesus will rule the world, Come praise the Lord with me, come praise the Lord, Come praise the Lord with me, come praise the Lord.

Come praise the Lord. We have an opportunity for you to praise the Lord if you're new to the church fellowship here. We hope you'll feel very much at home amongst us.

We're going to enjoy singing in honor of our God, hymn 367. Let's stand and sing. With a tomb He lay, Dead on His grave, He tore the bars away, He tore the bars away.

Come praise the Lord with me, come praise the Lord, Come praise the Lord with me, come praise the Lord. With a tomb He lay, Dead on His grave, He tore the bars away, He tore the bars away. With a tomb He lay, Dead on His grave, He tore the bars away.

Come praise the Lord with me, come praise the Lord, Come praise the Lord with me, come praise the Lord. With a tomb He lay, Dead on His grave, He tore the bars away, He tore the bars away. With a tomb He lay, Dead on His grave, He tore the bars away.

It's interesting to hear that when our Lord told this story, He had in mind a typical scene out in the Middle East. Maybe a donkey with some seed on its back, and in the sack is a hole, the sack of seed the donkey is carrying. And as it goes up and down the land, so seed falls.

On good ground, on rocky ground, on thorny ground. And the net result is, well, read it in scripture, verse 8, Still other seed fell on the good soil, it came up, grew, and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times. Then our Lord goes on to say in the twelfth verse, or rather the eleventh verse, The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, He's now addressing the disciples, But to those on the outside, everything is said in parables, So that they may ever be seeing, but never perceiving, and ever hearing, but never understanding, Otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.

The secret of the kingdom has been given to you. I guess in one sense we all like to be in on a secret. The interesting thing is that when our beloved Lord starts to preach, He makes reference to the most important thing that will ever occur in human history, And that is the coming of the kingdom of God.

Mark chapter 1, verse 15, our Lord says, The time has come, the kingdom of God is near. The most important thing for you to ask yourself is, Am I a member of the kingdom of God? Do I know God as my Heavenly Father? Am I assured that when I pass from this life into the next life, I can do so with peace in my mind, because well, my destination is guaranteed. Now here are the disciples of our beloved Lord, And He's been teaching parables, and He sets up this first story, Supplemented by others, which I would have read, But time is going on in this chapter, Which actually dovetail to make the same point.

Which is what? Well, in one sense, to understand the Christian gospel Requires a miracle from God. You see, there are those who say of the Apostle Paul, Why on earth couldn't he left the teaching of the gospel with Jesus? You know, why does he get on to justification and glorification And all the rest of these seemingly difficult theological terms? Why doesn't he leave it where Jesus left it? As though the essence of our Lord's teaching was utter simplicity. And yet I tell you that that was not the case.

Our Lord uses this enigmatic expression, this puzzling comment. He says to His disciples, Look, the secret of the kingdom has been given to you. I've told the story of the sower.

The majority of people who are listening, they don't really understand, Because, well, I'm using codified language. And that language actually was the language of our Lord Jesus For the major part of His ministry. When He spoke plainly, Then they had Him in front of Pilate, Caiaphas, And the rest of the politicians, And the Jewish religious aristocracy, And within a few moments, so to speak, They had Him done to death.

But Jesus says to His disciples, Actually, I'm speaking in code. I'm telling parables. But the secret, the secret of the kingdom, I'm sharing it with you.

You see, in one sense, The kingdom of God is only entered into As you perceive something of its mystery. You say, what do you mean? Well, look at these disciples. They've been with our beloved Lord for some time, And yet they still don't understand.

Here is Peter, and he says, When he's asked the question, Who am I, Lord? You are the Son of God. And Jesus says, Flesh and blood does not reveal this to you, My Father in heaven. And then He goes on to tell him about the gospel, His impending death.

And Peter says, No. No, not you. You see, he's finding it hard to understand the secret.

The secret of the kingdom. The secret that God makes it possible For the likes of those disciples, by extension, The likes of you and me, To enter in. Here's a man who is a philosopher and theologian.

His name is Nicodemus. You read of him in the third chapter of the gospel of John. And he comes to Jesus, and Jesus says, Are you a master in Israel, And you don't understand these things? Don't you know that before you can enter the kingdom, You have to be born again? You have to become as a little child? And Nicodemus, with all his understanding of the Old Testament, He only dully perceives, He only half understands, To what our beloved Lord is referring.

Do you recall on one occasion, Our Savior in the eleventh chapter of Matthew's gospel, Is speaking to the Father, And he says, Father, I thank you, That you have kept these things from the wise, And you have revealed them to little children. They understand something of the secrets of the kingdom, But those who are sophisticated, Those who claim to have knowledge, Well, they haven't fully grasped, By any means. They haven't entered into, They do not have the key, That unlocks the door.

The secret of the kingdom, Says our Lord Jesus, Has been given to the disciples, And by extension to us. But there are those on the outside, Who do not comprehend, Anything at all, In regard to the gospel. Seeing, but they're never perceiving, Hearing, but they never understand.

What is it, That causes a man, a woman, To be so dull, That what Jesus seems to those of us, Who are on the inside, So perfectly obvious, Is for them so hard to grasp. Well, our Savior, as I say, Makes reference to those who see, But never perceive. Pride is one of the greatest stumbling blocks, That causes a man or a woman, Not to enter into the kingdom of God.

The Pharisees were laced with pride. They saw, But they never clearly understood, Because they were seeing, Yet their eyes were dim. And there are sometimes people who Come to a Christian church such as this, And they hear something of the gospel, And they think they see, But actually they've not capitulated To the claims of the Lord Jesus.

Pride, Prejudice, That too stops a man. And here we are in our Lord's day, And the Pharisees who have been listening to him, Realize that he comes well from The northern territory of Palestine. He's not one of them.

He's a Galilean. How can you possibly receive spiritual truth, Information from a man who comes from the north, An untrained rabbi? And Jesus, as I say, Makes reference to these people, In terms of this statement, They're seeing, but they never perceive. They're hearing, But they never understand.

If they did, They might turn And be forgiven. What is the great explanation of the gospel? Well, it's locked up in that story Of the sower that sows And seed that falls On good ground. I don't understand the miracle of germination, do you? To me it's an utter mystery How an acorn can germinate And given a period of time Can produce an oak tree.

But then for me it's a mystery That a jet plane filled with people And therefore having with its cargo Also tremendous tonnage Can actually take off from Heathrow. I still don't believe it's possible When I think it through logically. But faith in the pilot And sheer blindness on my part Keeps me riveted to the seat Hoping that what I know to be absurd Will actually happen.

We shall be airborne. And then I go through a reverse procedure At the other end Wondering how the blessed thing Is going to come down in safety. I don't understand Why God in his grace Dropped that little seed Into my heart Many years ago In the city of Sheffield.

I know more than Bill comprehends Why it was that Through the lady who would become his wife The seed too was dropped in his heart And germinated Pulling him away from potential suicide And then from the glitz of a showbiz career In the States Causing him to direct his attention Towards world evangelization. But this I know That for me the most simple truth is That Jesus Christ, the son of God Stepped into time and space And took upon him ultimately on the cross The consequences of my sin And left his righteousness as my inheritance So that I could be secure in the knowledge That when this heart stops beating This spirit shall go on to be with God My maker. It's a mystery.

Our blessed Lord Jesus said That the mystery of the kingdom Has been unlocked in his person. God had eons ago devised a plan Whereby he would bring into one humanity Jews and Gentiles Sinners though both camps presented before his throne As he scrutinized all men But from these two groups He would bring together a people Who would form the kingdom of God And the thing that would differentiate these people From all other people is this They would have eyes and they would see They would have ears and they would hear And they would recognize the truth of Jesus Christ That he is God's last word to this world And that in him and him alone There is the possibility of salvation. Thank God that you cannot become a Christian Simply by pure reasoning it through.

For then only the intellectuals would reach heaven Only the philosophers would find the way But 1 Corinthians in chapter 1 and verse 18 says For the message of the cross Is foolishness to those who are perishing But to us who are being saved It is the power of God For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise The intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. This is what the apostle Paul As he writes to the Ephesians Is how God will bring together The Jewish nation Along with Gentile people And create a company for his own Who will be one people But says the apostle Paul As he writes his Ephesian letter This great mystery Has been revealed through our Lord Jesus. Here is Paul again writing to the Corinthians Speaking on the same line In the second chapter and the sixth verse We do however speak a message of wisdom Among the mature But not the wisdom of this age Or the rulers of this age Who are coming to nothing No we speak of God's secret wisdom A wisdom that has been hidden And that God destined for our glory Before time began None of the rulers of this age Understood it For if they had They would not have crucified The Lord of glory However as it is written No eye has seen No ear has heard No mind has conceived What God has prepared For those who love him.

George Whitefield was a great preacher In the 18th century There was not a finer Proclaimer of the gospel He had a Seraphic countenance That means he often looked like an angel He had the tongue He was one of the most eloquent men Of all time And on one occasion From the cabinet That was in those days At Westminster Two politicians went to hear Whitefield He was inspired And one man saw something Of the truth of God That he had never seen before in his life He realized that God in Christ Had extended a hand of mercy Towards him And he committed his life To the Lord Jesus But the other Went back to Westminster Totally Unmoved Two men The same profession Possibly the same range Of intellect And yet one Saw But never perceived One heard But never really understood Yet the other saw And saw clearly And heard And heard comprehensively The sower went forth to sow And dropped some seed And it fell Into good ground How Shall you then Respond to the gospel By dismissing The truth Pride From your heart Prejudice From your presuppositions Modern man cannot Stomach the thought of God Coming to him In terms of a saviour To modern man The cross is just a bloody spectacle That really ought to have been lost In the Victorian age As a means of propagation The Christian gospel We have now come of age We don't need this help We don't need this God Extending his hand towards us We can do it for ourselves And that is exactly what the Pharisees were saying In the days when Jesus taught the parable Of the sower So the disciples are on one side And they say explain And he says this is the message You're beginning to understand The secrets of the kingdom But these men Their eyes are so blind To prejudice And as the disciples responded So you can respond First the truth is apprehended Maybe dimly And then it becomes More clear And you begin to appreciate That those things That scripture says the angels Would like to look into But hold their breaths And stem their curiosity Is the most marvelous thing In all the world That God Allowed his son To come to this earth For ordinary people Such as you And me He sent him as a sower To distribute The seed And the response demands The watering of the spirit And the mental illumination Which he Can give Compelling people Like you Like me To surrender to Jesus And to discover that though It's still a mystery It's also so wonderful That paradoxically a child Can understand The corn of wheat Our blessed Lord Jesus Going into the ground Dying Being raised again So that your sins Can be forgiven The miracle of new life You'll never fully comprehend it But this night You can do this Accept And commit yourself As I have done As Bill has done As many here have done To the Christ Of Calvary's cross And discover Newness of life In him Let's pray Father we thank you that to those Who seek after you The mystery of the kingdom Is revealed You make it possible Through the cross For men to enter into your Immediate presence Enable us Lord At the end of these Remarkable days Enable us to reaffirm And some for the first time Our faith Our confidence In you And as we enter into the singing Of a great and glorious Hymn of praise and anthem To the God who sent his son Help us all From the depths of our being to Say How great Thou art Amen 506 In your Hymn book That great Hymn that came out of the Soviet Union How great Thou art O Lord my God when I in awesome wonder Consider all the works Thy hand hath made Still O Lord my God Then sings my soul My Savior God to Thee Spare me my scarce containment And prepare my ship Then sings my soul My Savior God to Thee How great Thou art And God shall love me He shall forever love me Please be seated And God the Lord Created all These things we call our own From the mighty to the small The glory in them all Is God's And God's alone God Reveals the truth Of all we call unknown And all the best and worst of man Won't change the master plan It's God's And God's alone God And God alone Is fit to take The universe its own And everything that lives Deserves its truest place For God And God alone Shall be the joy Of our eternal home He will be our wedding song Our hearts will never turn Of God And God alone God And God alone Is fit to take The universe its own And everything that lives Deserves its truest place For God And God alone God And God alone Is fit to take The universe its own And everything that lives Deserves its truest place For God And God Alone And everything that lives Deserves its truest place For God And God Alone Alone Amen Well, we've come to the end of this Sunday and this weekend of special activity I'd like to thank again all those who've helped so much And if this was your first occurrence of being with us this evening We're particularly glad to have had your company It's been an evening of contrasts to say the least And we bless God for Various ways in which you can step into people's hearts and lives The variety of ways in which we can express our praise And our worship On Wednesday we're going to be having a special day of prayer Notes and news, of which you should have a copy Do ask the stewards if you haven't They'll give you one as you leave Tells you the details If you're a newcomer, we'd like you to visit our welcome desk There's a little note and a memento of this occasion From myself and from Pastor Tim Please take it and we trust that it'll be a blessing to you Our brother Bill Drake has some tapes and some CDs Which are available for purchase in the foyer Now let's just commit ourselves again to the Lord Father, we thank you for this day We thank you for this weekend We praise you for the Sermon from the Flowers Bless you for all that you have saved us from And all that you have saved us for We ask that having opened the eyes of so many To the secrets of the kingdom Help us to count precious the information that you have given And not to store it up, but rather to inform others And to pray that their eyes may also be opened And their hearts may be moved So send us on our way rejoicing In the goodness of a God of great variation And we ask for your blessing The blessing of Father, Son and Holy Spirit To rest and to remain with each one of us now And until the King comes or calls The people of God said, Amen Good night, God bless you