The Sealing Message
Dear children, have you ever seen a mustard seed? If you’ve ever planted a garden, you may have noticed that a mustard seed is very small. If you were to drop it in the wrong place, you might not even be able to find it! Yet Jesus tells us something amazing about this tiny sample of His grand creation:
“Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: but when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it” (Mark 4:30–32).
When Jesus spoke of His heavenly kingdom, it seemed hard for people to believe. Some made fun of it. Yet, like the tiny mustard seed, the mighty truths given to His children have divine life. How rapid has been the growth of the gospel! It has spread everywhere. But when Jesus spoke about the mustard seed, there were only a few fishermen to represent the new kingdom. They were simple men who were poor in this world’s goods. But the “mustard seed” of gospel truth that they were taught was to grow and spread around the world. When the great kingdoms of earth perish, the kingdom of Christ is to remain forever. Why? Because of the power of life.
Think of an apple. It may have about 5 seeds within its core. But if those 5 seeds would be planted and 5 new apple trees would grow from them, how many apples would each tree produce? Maybe 50 to 200 apples each year for about 50 years. That’s the power of life that only God can produce!
What about corn? A stalk of corn often has more than one ear on it, but even if it has only one, that one cob may have well over 100 of corn. If each of those kernels is planted, just think of how God then multiplies the grain! What is the secret? Again, it is the power of life.
What about your faith? It may be small now, but if you “water” it and give it “fertilizer” and “sunshine,” it will grow. How? By prayer, reading the Bible, and worship. Jesus explains, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
What about your church? Does it seem like a small church that no one has ever heard of? That, too, will soon change. God’s church on earth that is obeying the present truth through the grace and power of Christ will not go unnoticed for long. His truth will triumph and His name will be glorified.
“In this last generation the parable of the mustard seed is to reach a signal and triumphant fulfillment. The little seed will become a tree. The last message of warning and mercy is to go to ‘every nation and kindred and tongue’ (Revelation 14:6–14), ‘to take out of them a people for His name’ (Acts 15:14; Revelation 18:1). And the earth shall be lightened with His glory” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 79). What a wonderful time to be alive! Rear children, have you ever seen a mustard seed? If you’ve ever planted a garden, you may have noticed that a mustard seed is very small. If you were to drop it in the wrong place, you might not even be able to find it! Yet Jesus tells us something amazing about this tiny sample of His grand creation:
“Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: but when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it” (Mark 4:30–32).
When Jesus spoke of His heavenly kingdom, it seemed hard for people to believe. Some made fun of it. Yet, like the tiny mustard seed, the mighty truths given to His children have divine life. How rapid has been the growth of the gospel! It has spread everywhere. But when Jesus spoke about the mustard seed, there were only a few fishermen to represent the new kingdom. They were simple men who were poor in this world’s goods. But the “mustard seed” of gospel truth that they were taught was to grow and spread around the world. When the great kingdoms of earth perish, the kingdom of Christ is to remain forever. Why? Because of the power of life.
Think of an apple. It may have about 5 seeds within its core. But if those 5 seeds would be planted and 5 new apple trees would grow from them, how many apples would each tree produce? Maybe 50 to 200 apples each year for about 50 years. That’s the power of life that only God can produce!
What about corn? A stalk of corn often has more than one ear on it, but even if it has only one, that one cob may have well over 100 of corn. If each of those kernels is planted, just think of how God then multiplies the grain! What is the secret? Again, it is the power of life.
What about your faith? It may be small now, but if you “water” it and give it “fertilizer” and “sunshine,” it will grow. How? By prayer, reading the Bible, and worship. Jesus explains, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
What about your church? Does it seem like a small church that no one has ever heard of? That, too, will soon change. God’s church on earth that is obeying the present truth through the grace and power of Christ will not go unnoticed for long. His truth will triumph and His name will be glorified.
“In this last generation the parable of the mustard seed is to reach a signal and triumphant fulfillment. The little seed will become a tree. The last message of warning and mercy is to go to ‘every nation and kindred and tongue’ (Revelation 14:6–14), ‘to take out of them a people for His name’ (Acts 15:14; Revelation 18:1). And the earth shall be lightened with His glory” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 79). What a wonderful time to be alive!