Parable of the Kingdom

wa ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo ndiyo in the past years and even since the beginning of this year uh coming here has never been in vain you have been blessing us variously lord we appreciate you without exalted in the mighty name of jesus each time we come together we've been enjoying your presence you have been meeting our needs lord you have been strengthening us you've been encouraging us lord we appreciate you take all the glory in jesus name lord tonight speak to us in jesus name bless us in your word in the mighty name of jesus give us understanding in jesus name and let your name be glorified thank you heavenly father in jesus mighty name we have prayed amen we want to continue with our studies on the parables of the kingdom and today we look at the parable of spiritual growth looney parable of spiritual growth and we'll be reading mark chapter 4 verses 26 to 29 mark 4 26 to 29 said that the lord saying that now so in the kingdom of god as if a man should cut seed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how for the earth bringeth forth fruit of itself first the blade then the hair after that the full grain in the air but when the fruit is brought forth immediately he put it in the sickle because the harvest is come so we'll be looking at spiritual growth how but before we talk about spiritual growth we can see from agricultural experience here that the lord has used to inform us about how we grow spiritually we know that when we plant any seed um what happens to that seed under the earth we don't know we know well we know that it will pass through some stages before it begins to grow and we begin to see its growth and we begin to see its flowering we begin to see coming up with seed and again we keep watching and watching until it gets to maturity stage and at the point we are happy we go there if it's purple we take a stick and knock it if it's oranges we do the same thing if it's pineapple we do the same thing even uh vegetables we do the same thing but the process it is God that handles everything so that's what we have in verse 29 but when the fruit is brought forth immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest is come oh whereas we have said that it is the work of God but we have as human beings a part to play in it we have to weed we have to watch we have to guide we have to care for it the way we are expected to do otherwise it may not come up as expected at the end of the day uh in uh different works or businesses it follows the same pattern foreign through starting up a work or a business or an assignment me we put our best into it our own steps our own actions our own works and so on and we begin to see it growing and growing and growing from uh two to four from four to eight eight to sixteen and before we know it the whole place is filled up with a product or a business becomes enlarged and blessing begins to flow in today so what we are saying is that when we talk of growth it's not a one-day assignment or one-day experience in the life of anybody a child is born and the mother begins to take care at the point it begins to walk it begins to run around it begins to go to school then it becomes a man and it begins to and it begins to pay back uh blessing people all over look it's not a one-day assignment but yes it is the work of god but parents have a path to play oh if we fail to play our expected role then the expected result will elude us so this parable applies to almost every area of our lives uh physical life uh business life uh family life uh spiritual life everything so now back to what we have here spiritually is we see that the spiritual growth of a believer is seen or must be seen as a divine act it's a divine work is it tells us that it is god who works in us to will and to do according to his good pleasure it is god that works in us if we submit ourselves to him so god is ready willing to work in us to make us what he wants us to be but we must submit ourselves to his worship spiritual growth of the believer is not of human accomplishment lest anyone should boast no it's not of our own accomplishment it is god that is responsible it is god's work again it is a gradual process unto perfection today and that's why we are not the same we are not on the same level spiritually no we are different one from another to see our why because we don't submit ourselves to the discipline of the holy spirit the same way literally but what we are emphasizing is the fact that spiritual growth is a gradual process from one page to another to another to another until perfection is reached again spiritual growth of the believer requires patience no it requires patience so it will be wrong of us of anyone to expect that oh because uh brother x that started growing that growth uh beginning is the point of believing the lord jesus christ as a personal lord and savior receiving jesus simply put it starts when one becomes a child of god and so it will be wrong of us to expect the same maturity level with somebody that started one year ago and another that started two three years ago of course even under the same uh ministration that so let us take note of that is required of every one of us to grow up to maturity me one important point again is that of harvest time which shall come and that is a time of full to maturity and fruitfulness it is not a one day issue it takes time and so there's the need for us to be patient and if we patiently wait on the lord we will reach maturity stage and we will begin to bear expected fruit we have talked about that earlier in our studies fruitfulness if we bear fruit we'll be acceptable to god but if we don't bear fruit then it's a problem you remember that tree that jesus saw expected fruit on it yes it's a period when uh it's not a a time of fruitfulness but the but is that at that time at that time there will still be some fruit may not be as many but there will still be some fruit and that was the expectation of the lord but getting there looked up looked he found nothing and he caused it and it withered is foreign at every point the lord must see good things in our lives to point to and say oh yes you are on the track now as it affects us as it affects you and as it affects me me we want to see that the man that casts a seed into the ground can be the minister of the gospel really the word is that seed and the heart of man is the ground so when a man of god stands before you or before us ministering the word of god is like that man casting seed into the ground and that ground is the heart is our hearts and the seed is the word of life the word of god so it is therefore the responsibility of the minister of the gospel to play his part or a part faithfully by sowing the seed of the gospel the word of life into the hearts of men and then leave the rest to god for the expected result no and so faithful sowing of the word of god requires one diligent study and preparation for the message or for the word that you want to sow into the lives of people and with prayer backing it up playing one's own part effectively and when that is done your conscience uh is is free from condemnation and the word is delivered with power under the anointing of god and the rest is left to god to work out the result in the lives of the others foreign so that the lesson there for you and for me is this whatever assignment is given to us in the church in the body of christ we must prepare hard put our best into it knowing fully well that we are not working for man no but we are working for god in fact we must have the mindset that well if jesus should come now with what i am doing will he approve it will he appreciate my effort will he be convinced that yes i have represented him in the best of ways so adequate preparation prevents poor performance you have some some people some men of god when they want to uh minister uh to just open all the bible like this god speak to your people in jesus name and we just do like this and uh whatever the eyes uh touches and uh he begins to talk about it no that's not it that is not it not now we have series of such messages um on the air today even if we listen to radios and radios and radios begin to hear some funny funny things funny funny things and you begin to begin to wonder god but why all this why all this are these sincere men or women of god lord have mercy serious the expected result from a man of god should be bountiful harvest of combated souls local local follower bountiful harvest of converted souls that have responded positively to the gospel messages converted because they have decided that i am for christ and no longer for the world is so that they can be real and genuine candidates of the kingdom of heaven there are christians and there are christians in our world today and we begin to wonder are these people going to the kingdom of god going to heaven body one but what we have received and what we are receiving in this place maybe and in other places where the name words words of god has been preached let us hold on and let's not allow anything around us in the world to snatch them away from us shubham so we've said that spiritual growth of the believer is a divine act of god god is not of human accomplishment it's a gradual process unto perfection requires patience but the believer has a responsibility shubham towards spiritual growth so you have a responsibility or i also have a responsibility towards spiritual growth number one regular attendance at fellowships where the word of god is preached at talks is in hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 it is not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but accepting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching so in arts chapter 2 verse 41 that was a bit it tells us that day that gladly received his word were baptized uh three thousand souls were added to them that's 42 and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers they continued steadfastly they continued steadfastly they did not say oh after all we have received jesus we have believed so we can stand alone and we can walk our ways to the kingdom of god we must not forget that iron sharpens iron we come together like this whether we believe it or not whether you know or you don't know a lot of things do happen when we come together like this grace blessing understanding wisdom knowledge of god all this rub on by the time we will be leaving different homes and come to church when the real thing the real work of god when the holy spirit takes over the service or the meeting we will not be the same as we came and a lot of things would have happened to us and would have grown if if you like an inch if you like um uh a foot if you like a yard and whatever happens we are not really going to be the same by the time we finish any service if we have a spirit soul and body here you regular attendance of fellowship is very important responsibility number two creation of time for reading and studying the word of god and reflecting on it now don't tell me that you don't have time we have time you have time look if we have time to sleep if we have time to eat if we have time for our works it is unacceptable for anyone to say i don't have time you will never have time if you don't create time holy create time for reading the bible then create time for studying the bible reading you maybe well read revelation he you have a bird's eye view of events genesis to revelation now um it will take you more time than the time you used to reach you want to study genesis chapter one um you have to uh sit down think on what is stated there reflect on it think about it how does it apply to you how does it apply to you how does it affect you and when you work on it that way then it will begin to minister life to you it's just a prayer that god will give us understanding in psalm 119 verse 97 he says oh i love i thy law it is my meditation all the day i love your word so i meditate on it all the day that's that's what he's saying feeling the meditation of some people will be about the economy of the country about the about security about politics about how things will look like in february especially here in nigeria when we will be choosing a president and after that what will happen what's your business about that let us just pray then god will hand you the rest uh oh how will i get money to take care of myself to take care of my family uh to eat to do this to do that when you bother yourself with all this anxiety sets in before you know it uh your block prayer begins to rise and before you you know it uh you collapse and you become a serious problem to everybody let us love the word of god let us read and study it and let us meditate on it all the day now look at the bsq just three verses yes uh it did not even take uh more than five minutes to read everything in fact you don't even need five minutes you need just uh maybe one minute two minutes okay but you will recollect the number of acts that was used in this place to uh on this uh and so on like that let us love the word of god let us meditate in it and let us ensure that we have it in our hearts god works on the world when you play your own path faithfully how when you come to the presence of god do that with expectation and with an open heart let it go yes we have we have we we are here now by the time we are leaving home what was our expectation now if it's just to come so that uh uh after the after the service i will not receive a call why and so on then you have missed it but if you have come with the mindset that you are going to meet god and that you want god to do something to give you an understanding possibly you have some issues troubling your mind and say god today my going to church must be a solution must bring a solution to this problem that uh i'm that is confronting me then that's an expectation and with that mindset definitely your mind will be here and you know that god is here and of course god is here yes god is here foreign pay full attention to what goes on especially when the word of god is being preached avoid distractions now so that's um how to play one's part faithfully in the presence of god and it is a responsibility towards spiritual growth it is wrong for example uh in the service it's it's it's then that attending to uh phone calls it's then you are checking your whatsapp it's then you are going to your facebook you want to know what goes on when the service is on in the presence of god in fact it is better for us it is better for us when you are in church switch off or put your phone on silence you are in the presence of the almighty god it is a responsibility another responsibility is for us to jot down salient points in a notebook and go through for further necessary action no it's a way of playing our own part faithfully some don't bother about that they don't have a notebook talk less of checking want to know what exactly was said how does it affect me and so on like that believe the word and put it into use it's another responsibility believe the word and put it into use another important one is this pray for grace and the infilling of the holy spirit because we are not sufficient of ourselves our sufficiency is of god second corinthians 3 5 it is not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves is it but our sufficiency is of god another responsibility towards spiritual growth is that we must not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers we must separate ourselves from everything ungodly the second corinthians chapter 6 verses 14 to 18 just read and just follow us and read here second corinthians 6 14 to 18 call it for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness and what communion have light with darkness and what concord have christ with belia or what part have he that believe it with an infidel and what agreement has the temple of god with idols for ye are the temple of the living god and god has said i will dwell in them and walk in them and i will be their god and they shall be my people wherefore come out among them and be you separate seeth the lord and touch not the unclean thing and i will receive you and will be a father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters seeth the lord almighty so god wants us to separate ourselves from the world is this saying that we should create a boundary no this is our own dwelling place oh no that's your own dwelling place no it's not that but while we interact together while we work in the same office while we go to the same school and so on like that we must be conscious of the fact that we are children of god we are the light anything that pertains to dark work works works of darkness sinful practices we must not engage ourselves in them is now let us be careful of some statements that we hear especially when we are together with non-believers oh pastor or reverend or prophet or apostle x does this and so what makes you different is we were somewhere yesterday we lost if we lost somebody that is very dear uh in the community but i know why where we where we sat some people were talking some funny funny things funny funny things funny funny things um look if uh the madam uh were to be around perhaps what happened wouldn't have happened and that's why we are saying that there's nothing wrong in having somebody um that will always be with you at least if one uh is out and that one will be around so i just looked around and i discovered that even those that were discussing these issues were old microphone in the church and one that begins to wonder what type of message would they be preaching would they be passing across to people no it's it's a serious issue yes um those things are being practiced in the world by the people of the world but must not be practiced by us as children of god somebody said hey but even in the bible it's not written anywhere that you must have only one wife like that that thou must not have two wives look that is where we start money where people where some people have money and you have people and men go with deliver men our responsibility as believers towards spiritual growth is very important another one is that we must be holy um follow peace with all men follow peace with all men with all men is it's an instruction for us that must be followed is that we should follow peace with all men all men when he says all is it an holiness without which no man shall see the lord but we want to see the lord this is what god requires of us oh we must know that it is he who grows spiritually that shall reap the benefits of growth during harvest time and this harvest time is a time when god begins to bless his own it is a time when god surrounds his own with good benefits it is a time when prosperity begins to flow in it is a time when joy fills the heart and when challenges are overcome so a time of harvest will definitely come some 35 it says weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh when in the morning you know a time of laboring on the field and so on like that it's not it has never been a comfortable a convenient time for a farmer no but when the harvest time comes oh everybody is happy uh our works shall be rewarded no doubt or better yet works shall be rewarded verse 13 mark chapter 4 says but when the fruit is brought forth immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest is come the harvest of the world will soon come it's only those that are sincere children of god that will be harvested into the kingdom of god um so brethren let us maintain a stand in the lord let us grow spiritually yes we have said it is god that does that yes so we have our own responsibilities let us play our own part effectively and god will reward us let us pray to god and say lord give me grace one let your anointing fall on me for fruitfulness in the mighty name of jesus for playing my part effectively towards spiritual growth so that i may be acceptable to you every day in the name of jesus i want to believe that you are praying let us pray to god bless me with your grace enable me today lord by your spirit because i have no power of my own but i depend on your strength on your power in the name of jesus lord help me lord help me in this grace to me lord let me be an example of the believer indeed in jesus name help me lord to grow help me to be a fruit fruit of righteousness fruit of holiness fruit of godliness in the mighty name of jesus and let's pray concerning our works let's pray concerning our businesses to say lord help me to play my own part and because you continue playing your own part and when the two meet there will be growth there will be expansion there will be fruitfulness lord help me in this regard in the name of jesus lord bless my life let me be fruitful in the name of jesus bless my home bless my family bless every endeavor of mine bless my ministry let there be fruitfulness in the mighty name of jesus thank you almighty god in jesus mighty name we have prayed father we appreciate you because you are the lord god almighty we pray lord that the grace to grow spiritually as is expected of us as your children release upon us in jesus name let the holy spirit fill us walk through us walk in us to be what you want us to be in our world in the mighty name of jesus thank you heavenly father in jesus mighty name we have prayed amen father we pray for increasing grace