Mark 4:21-34

Alright, please take with me your copy of God's Word and turn to the Gospel of Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

I'm thankful for the people who are helping me with that. The bakers have the boys right now and I appreciate my parents kicking in to help with that a bit.

But I'm feeling a little scatterbrained this morning. I was doing really well leading up to today, studying, kind of finishing my preparations yesterday.

And then I fed our youngest, who's very allergic to peanut butter, peanut butter on accident yesterday, which caused vomiting and other joys yesterday evening.

So, I just feel a little out of it today. So, join me and let's pray and let's see if we can get focused today on the text before us.

Father, we do thank You this morning for the blessing of getting to come together and opening Your Word.

And we so often treat it with neglect. We so often don't appreciate it for what it is, and that is Your Word to us.

It has meant things for the church throughout history, but it means something for us now today, and it means something for every person in this room.

Wherever they may be right now, it's a salve. It's a solution. It's an authority.

And I pray, Father, that we will treat it as such.

I pray, Father, that You will empower my speaking by Your Word, and that You'll empower all of our hearing, all of our application by Your Spirit,

that we might be more like Your Son this day.

He is worthy of all praise and all honor.

He is magnificent to behold.

And as such, Father, I pray that our lives give Him that proper praise.

Help us this morning, Lord, and we pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

So we're going to read together and deal with Mark chapter 4, verses 21 through 34.

Mark 4:21–34

So please join me as I read this to you.

And He said to them,

Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed and not a stand?

For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest, nor is anything secret except to come to light.

If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.

And He said to them,

Pay attention to what you hear.

With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

For to the one who has, more will be given.

And from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

And He said,

The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.

He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows.

He knows not how.

The earth produces by itself first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

But when the grain is ripe, it once He puts in the sickle because the harvest has come.

And He said,

With what can we compare to the kingdom of God?

Or what parable shall we use for it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed,

which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.

Yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants

and puts out large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.

With many such parables, He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.

He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to His own disciples,

He explained everything.

Now we have before us this morning four sayings,

most of them being parables,

one of them more of a proverbial explanation.

And you can see those as each of them kind of begin with,

the, and He said to them, or and He said.

If you have a red letter edition as I do,

those black, and He said to them, and He said, kind of stand out to me.

And you see there's these four separate sayings.

Again, being as they are primarily parables,

remember that a parable is a lesser truth laid alongside a greater truth

to help us understand that truth.

We get the word parallel, our same English word for that,

from the root in the Greek here, para,

to lay alongside.

And so we have this pause in the Gospel of Mark with this teaching.

And it's not often that this happens.

Mark moves pretty quickly.

It's kind of the action gospel, so to speak.

And he pauses here to express some of Jesus' teaching,

and then again in chapter 13.

And so it's good for us to really stop and ponder

and really take a look at what's going on here.

And so you may ask then,

why are we going to deal with all four of these sayings on the same Sunday?

And I've got to tell you this week,

I didn't start out intending to deal with them all.

I was really just going to speak about the very first one,

verses 21 through 23.

But they are tied together thematically.

They are tied together thematically.

Now to kind of help us see that theme,

we have to remember where the Gospel of Mark began.

And I just want you to draw your attention to chapter 1, verses 14 and 15,

where Mark records,

Now after John was arrested,

Jesus came into Galilee,

proclaiming the Gospel of God,

the good news of God,

and saying,

the time is fulfilled,

and the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the Gospel.

Now we need to get this understanding right.

What is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God?

What was it that Jesus was coming and preaching?

Because I fear that we are overly reductionist

when we speak of what the Gospel is.

When most of us talk of the Gospel,

we are speaking of the redemption of souls.

This is the only thing we are referring to when we talk about the Gospel.

This message that we were sinners,

dead in sin.

That Jesus came and made a way

by the propitiation of His life.

That He died for us.

That He was raised.

He's seated at the right hand of the Father.

And that when we will place faith in Him,

we will have eternal life.

And the Gospel certainly is this.

In fact, it is this at its very core.

If you remove any of those things,

it ceases to be the Gospel.

It is no longer good news.

But it's not just that.

It's that in its essence.

It's that in its core.

But it is not just that.

Recall in Revelation 21, verse 5,

Revelation 21:5

when we see the new earth,

the new heaven being established,

Jesus says,

Behold, I am making all things new.

And this is what I mean by this.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God,

this good news of the coming Kingdom,

is the good news of God re-establishing order

as it should be.

Re-establishing the world

as it was meant to be.

Which at its core includes

our ability to live in relation with Him.

Our ability to worship Him

with everything that we do.

This is the main part of this Gospel message.

But it includes other things.

And that is,

how is it that we now live

in light of that reality?

The redemption of our souls.

What happens now?

How then shall we live?

And it must look different

because we are now citizens

of a greater kingdom.

Not of this world,

but of a heavenly world.

And God is bringing to pass

this process of making all things new.

I was speaking with Ash about this yesterday.

And I gave the analogy,

it's very poor really,

but I talked about an M&M.

And an M&M in its core is chocolate.

Without that,

it ceases to be an M&M.

It would be a really weird,

empty candy shell.

But an M&M also has a candy shell.

At its core,

the Gospel message

is the redemption of souls.

The candy coating,

the extra thing,

that thing that has effect then,

is the redemption of other things

in our world as well.

We live in a fallen place.

Sin has affected so much.

The ability of our bodies to heal.

It affects relationships.

It affects how it is that we relate to the world.

Work in your yard a little bit.

That's sin.

Pulling weeds is a result of sin.

The work that was given to Adam in the garden

became labor after the fall.

These things were all destroyed by sin.

And now,

Christ is working to make these things new.

All of this simply to say to you

that those of us who are redeemed

must look different.

And we must make a difference in this world.

And here's how we see these four sayings,

parables,

tied together.

And that is,

the theme of these

is that we ought to receive

the knowledge of the covenant kingdom of God

and impart the same to others.

We must do this with our words,

first and foremost,

but we also must be doing this

with our actions.

Now,

fascinatingly,

these are pulled together here,

these four sayings together,

but they're scattered

in the synoptic gospels,

in Matthew and Luke,

all throughout the gospels.

They're all throughout it.

And at first,

as I was studying,

I thought,

well,

how interesting that Mark,

led by the Spirit,

pulled them together

and showed them to us here.

But I believe that Jesus

spoke them in this order.

Mark does a pretty good job

of telling us

where it is that he's at.

We know that he has been

by the Sea of Galilee,

that he has drawn out into a boat

and he has taught this parable

of the sower.

We see that in verse 10,

he was alone later

explaining things.

And then in verse 35,

they decide to get back

into the boat

and go across.

So I think he's still

in this mode of teaching.

He's on the side

of the Sea of Galilee.

He's teaching these things

and he's recording them

all together

as they were taught.

As any good teacher does,

he gets a good parable in mind

and he uses it

in multiple occasions

at multiple times.

I'm sure that Jesus

didn't one time

speak of these things,

but he continued to teach

what the kingdom of God

would look like

as he traveled

and as he spoke

to different audiences.

And so,

not only did the Spirit

move Mark

to record them

in this way together,

but I believe that Jesus

spoke them in this way

as well.

And so therefore,

we ought to pay careful attention

to this theme

that we ought to receive

the knowledge

of the coming kingdom of God

and impart

the same to others.

And so,

with each parable,

I want to show you

four things.

First,

the revelation

of the kingdom of growth,

or the kingdom growth.

Secondly,

the response

of kingdom growth.

Thirdly,

the mystery

of kingdom growth.

And fourthly,

the magnitude

of kingdom growth.

So firstly,

the revelation

of kingdom growth.

Verses 21-23,

and he said to them,

is a lamp brought in

to be put under a basket

or under a bed

and not a stand?

For nothing is hidden

except to be made manifest,

nor is anything secret

except to come to light.

If anyone has ears to hear,

let him hear.

And the key here to seeing,

what is it that Jesus

is communicating to us?

What is this light

that he is speaking of,

this lamp?

And that is himself.

Verse 22,

he says,

nothing is hidden

except to be made manifest,

nor is anything secret

except to come to light.

And this is the stage

in history

that that is happening.

Right?

They had messianic prophecy

up to this point.

Now the Messiah

is standing before them.

Something that was hidden

has now been made manifest.

Something that was secret

has now come to light.

John 8-12,

Jesus says,

I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me

will not walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life.

Luke records this same thing

parable in Luke 11-33,

but just before that,

in verse 32,

we see this record,

the men of Nineveh

will rise up at the judgment

with this generation

and condemn it.

For they repented

at the preaching of Jonah,

and behold,

something greater than Jonah

is here.

The revelation of God to man.

He is the way of repentance.

Jonah preached to Nineveh

that they should repent

and turn back to God.

Jesus is now

that greater Jonah.

John 14-6,

Jesus says,

I am the way

and the truth

and the life.

No one comes to the Father

except through me.

And this is why

verse 23 says,

if anyone has ears to hear,

let him hear.

And all he's saying is,

if you have had your mind

open to the realities

of the gospel,

hear the realities

of the gospel.

Don't just take it in,

but take it into your heart.

Let it have effect

in who you are.

In Numbers chapter 21,

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

we see Israel

in the wilderness

and they have complained

to Moses

of their situation.

They are desiring

to go back to captivity

where things were

a little bit easier for them.

And God sends

as a punishment to them

what are called

fiery serpents.

Serpents that were

biting them

and they were dying

as a result of this.

We see in verse 6,

it says,

Then the Lord sent

fiery serpents

among the people

and they bit the people

so that many people

of Israel died.

And the people

came to Moses

and said,

listen to this repentance,

they came to Moses

and said,

We have sinned

for we have spoken

against the Lord

and against you.

Pray to the Lord

that He take away

the serpents from us.

We see this picture

of repentance.

So Moses prayed

for the people.

In verse 8,

And the Lord said

to Moses,

Make a fiery serpent

and set it on a pole

and everyone who is bitten

when he sees it

shall live.

So they make a statue,

an image of a fiery serpent

and they put it on a pole.

So when people are bitten

they come and they look at it

and they live.

So Moses made a bronze serpent

and set it on a pole

and if a serpent bit anyone

he would look at the bronze serpent

and live.

And then we get

such wonderful commentary

about what this was meant

to foreshadow.

So here we have a people

who were stricken

by an affliction

because of their sin

against God.

Because of their sin

against God

they are dying.

And Moses prays on behalf.

He intercedes for them

and God gives them

a way to live.

He gives them a way

to avoid the punishment

of this bite

and to live.

John chapter 3

John 3 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 14.

And as Moses lifted up

the serpent in the wilderness

so must the Son of Man

be lifted up

that whoever believes in Him

may have eternal life.

for God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son

that whoever believes in Him

should not perish

but have eternal life.

I hope that verse 16

was very familiar to you.

Did you know that this was

the story that's being spoken of

that precedes that?

Just as Moses lifted up

the servant

so the Son of Man

was lifted on a cross

and He was crucified.

So that whoever believes

in that redemptive work

that He accomplished

on the cross

can have eternal life

and can avoid

the punishment

that our sin brought.

So Jesus is the light.

As Mark is recording it here

He is the lamp

that is meant to be

lifted up.

But how do we do that?

How do we do that

in our world?

The very same parable

is recorded in the Sermon

on the Mount

in Matthew chapter 5

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

and Jesus teaches it

a little bit differently

beginning in verse 14.

He says,

You are the light

of the world.

You.

Speaking to the believers there

You are the light

of the world.

A city set on a hill

cannot be hidden.

Nor do people light a lamp

and put it under a basket

but on a stand

and it gives light

to all in the house.

In the same way

let your light shine

before others

so that they may see

your good works

and give glory

to your Father

who is in heaven.

So Jesus is the light

and we are the light.

How is it that we are the light?

Because we have Christ.

Because Christ lives in us.

Because the gospel

has done a work

in our hearts

and it has made us new.

But don't miss

that therefore

we should look

like Christ.

The way we put the lamp

on the stand

is that we live

as He has called us

to live.

We live set apart

from this world.

We look different

from this world.

And you must ask yourself

that question

do I look different

from this world?

And I'm not talking

about exterior trappings.

That is not what I mean.

We shouldn't dress

in some strange garb

make clothing

out of burlap

or something like that

so that we look different

from the world

in that way.

We shouldn't set ourselves

apart from the world.

We shouldn't become monastic.

Many things,

good things

were accomplished

through monastic movements

but by and large

these people

removed themselves

from the sake of holiness

from the world

and therefore

weren't light at all.

They were a city

in a valley.

They were a lamp

that was covered up.

They were,

in our analogy here,

a lamp that was stuck

underneath the bed.

We're meant to live

in this world

and to function

in this world

so that we can exalt

Christ in this world.

So that we can be

light in this place.

The vision statement

of Christ's family church

is that we exist

to glorify God

by experiencing,

proclaiming,

and displaying

the supremacy

of Jesus Christ

in all things

to all peoples.

I hope that you've

memorized that.

I hope that every time

I mention it now

you go,

oh yeah,

oh I know that thing.

Right?

There it is.

Can you remember it?

We ought to first

be experiencing this

to be a reality

in our lives.

Right?

If Christ is not supreme,

if Christ doesn't reign

over all things

in your life,

that should be true of you.

You should yield

things to Christ.

You should desire

that Christ be

more precious

than anything

that this world

has to offer

because He is.

You should stop

trading lesser pleasure

for that greater pleasure.

The great pleasure

of knowing

Jesus Christ

as Lord.

We should experience

this to be true

in our lives.

And I think

that too often

we don't.

Far too often

we worship

the things of this world.

Far too often

we are led astray

by the sundry items

of this world.

Right?

We don't behold

Jesus' face

and have everything else

in this world

just grow dim.

Right?

But this world

has such

a shininess

to it

for us.

We love

to hold it

and we love

to look it over

and call it

our precious.

Jesus

is precious.

This world

is not.

Tolkien interjection

there.

On accident.

Right?

Now catch

that we are also

meant to proclaim

the truth

of this reality.

Right?

Our religion

is a religion

of words.

Now hear me carefully.

Don't...

God works

a change in our heart

where we worship

in spirit

and truth

but we worship

in truth.

Right?

We have been given

the gospel message

in words

and I praise God

for it.

We are unique

in this way

that it is okay

that the Bible

is translated

into our language

that we can translate

it into other languages

that we can propagate

it all around

the world.

Right?

If you are a Muslim

it is not okay

for the Koran

to be translated

into English.

Right?

It is not considered

the Word of God.

Right?

These translations

are precious to us.

These words come

and they bring

life.

Now if anybody

ever asks you

what translation

I preach from

just tell them

the original.

Just say that

because some people

get really

into their translations

and somehow

think they are inspired.

They are not

the original inspired.

Right?

The Greek

that we would read here

is the inspired

Word of God

and this is

that translation

that comes to us

we must proclaim.

This is how people

hear the gospel

and believe in it.

We must proclaim it

far and wide.

But we also must

display it.

Matthew chapter 5

Matthew 5:16

verse 16

in the same way

let your light

shine before others

so that they

may see what?

Not your proclamation.

That's not what

he says here.

That they may see

your good works

and give glory

to your Father

who is in heaven.

We must display

this reality.

If it's true to us

that Jesus Christ

is supreme

to all things

in the world

and we're saying

that

probably Christians

get that more

right than anything

but we're not

displaying it.

What good is it

for anybody?

If you go around

telling somebody

that they should

believe in something

that it will

change their life

and your life

looks like theirs

what good is it?

It is pointless.

It's not good news

at all.

It's just news.

We've got to ask

ourselves

is our world

a better place

because of our church?

Is our world

better

because Christ Family

Church

exists?

Is your world

better?

The spheres

that you run in

are you

making change

where you are?

And here's where

this idea

of redeeming souls

and redeeming

other things

as well

comes into play

that the kingdom

of God

is about

reestablishing

God's order

the way things

are meant to be

which hear me

clearly

is primarily

about souls

primarily

about that

but it also means

that you will be

the best

possible employee

you can possibly be

because God

has redeemed

your soul

he has also

redeemed

your work ethic

that your employer

will say

I think that the gospel

that Nathan preaches

is insanity

but man am I glad

he's around

he is a good

employee

I never have to ask him

to do anything twice

when he gets done

with a project

he comes and asks

for another project

I never catch him

sitting down

he makes me

more money

I am glad

he is here

we should be the best

possible

employees

you should be

the best

possible

students

you don't have

to agree

with everything

your professors

teach you

in fact

I would strongly

encourage you

not to agree

with everything

that your professors

teach you

but as you

disagree with them

in the class

they should be

thankful

that you were

a student

in their class

Nathan doesn't

agree with

anything I say

I was a sociology

major

so I very often

didn't agree

with the very

liberal agendas

that are weaved

throughout that

degree program

Nathan doesn't

agree with

anything that I

say

man does he

disagree graciously

and boy does he

pour his heart

into the reading

and into the writing

and boy does he

engage in conversation

he's a good

student and I'm

glad he's in my

class

do people say

this of us

I disagree with

him I think

he's crazy

but I'm glad

he's around

are your

neighbors

glad that you're

their neighbors

I'm thinking

about all this

felt a conviction

that I need to

take better care

of my yard

I should care

about the state

of my yard

because I should

care about the

property value

of my neighbors

I should want

the hedges to

be trimmed

and the grass

edged and do

all that kind

of thing

to the glory

of God

so that they

know that I

care about

them

those crazy

Christians always

having Bible

studies over at

their house

and clogging up

our street with

cars on Wednesday

night

but they sure

are good to

the neighborhood

are you

renters

are you good

tenants

are you taking

care of the

property that's been

given to you

you pay your

rent late all

the time

there are very

real and very

practical ways

that we should be

putting light

on a stand

don't limit it

just to a sphere

don't say that I

am a student

I am an employee

I play a sport

and then I'm a

Christian

Christianity is

the defining thing

about you if you've

been found in

Christ

and therefore it

should permeate

every aspect

of your living

this is the way

we can be

radically

different

from our

Christian culture

and I don't

want to be

different from

our Christian

culture

I want our

Christian culture

to live to

this standard

like I hope

they all look

like that

but we certainly

don't need to

look like those

who don't

experience

proclaim or

display the

supremacy of

Jesus Christ

we do the

very opposite

of that

we look like

everyone

else

there's a

very practical

aspect of

this parable

is a lamp

brought in to

be put under

a basket

or under a

bed and not

a stand

no

of course

not

that is

crazy

you are

the light

of Christ

shine

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:6

chapter 4

verse 6

and then

verse 13

Paul writes

for God

who said

let light

shine out

of darkness

has shown

in our

hearts

to give

the light

of the

knowledge

of the

glory

of God

in the

face

of Jesus

Christ

since we

have the

same

spirit

of faith

according

to what

has been

written

I

believed

and so

I

spoke

we

also

believe

and so

we

also

speak

so

there's

the

connection

for you

very

beautifully

laid out

by Paul

for us

that

God

who said

light

shine

out of

darkness

he is

the one

that

has shown

Christ

in our

hearts

and so

we

believed

we

speak

this

should

have

some

real

effect

remember

that

we're

coming

off

the

parable

of the

sower

Jesus

I believe

if we

are really

analyzing this

as the

sower

but we've

also been

given the

task

of sowing

right

and it's

going to

look this

way

putting light

on a

stand

sowing

the seed

we

ought to

respond

the

response

of

kingdom

growth

verse 24

and he

said to

them

pay

attention

to

what

you

hear

with

the

measure

you

use

it

will

be

measured

to

you

and still

more

will be

added

to

you

for

the

one

who

has

more

will

be

given

and from

the

one

who

has

not

even

what

he

has

will

be

taken

away

now

notice

in

verse

24

he

says

pay

attention

to

what

you

hear

in

verse

23

he

said

if

anyone

has

ears

to

hear

let

him

hear

in

verse

33

and

34

he

says

with

many

such

parables

he

spoke

to

the

word

to

them

meaning

the

crowd

as

they

were

able

to

hear

it

he

did

not

speak

to

them

without

a

parable

but

privately

to

his

own

disciples

he

explained

everything

so

so

the idea

here

behind

hearing

is not

!

simply

hearing

but

hearing

and

acting

it's

hearing

that

has

an

effect

it's

hearing

and

believing

so

we

need

to

respond

and

there

should

be

a

response

to

this

kingdom

growth

Romans

10

17

says

faith

comes

from

hearing

and

hearing

through

the

word

of

Christ

Ephesians

1

13

in

him

you

also

when

you

heard

the

word

of

truth

the

gospel

of

your

salvation

and

believed

in

him

were

sealed

with

the

promised

Holy

Spirit

there

must

be

a

hearing

and

a

response

and

that

is

what

Jesus

is

talking

about

when

he

talks

about

with

the

measure

you

use

it

will

be

measured

to

you

insert

into

this

faith

with

the

measure

of

faith

you

use

it

will

be

measured

to

you

and

still

more

will

be

added

to

you

for

the

one

who

has

more

will

be

given

and

from

the

one

!

who

has

not

who

and

if

we

want

to

see

the

gospel

message

have

root

in

our

hearts

and

exercise

faith

in

us

we

also

must

exercise

that

faith

in

growth

Proverbs

13

4

says

the soul

of the

sluggard

craves

and gets

nothing

while the

soul

of the

diligent

is

richly

supplied

the soul

of the

sluggard

those

who

are

lazy

in

their

faith

those

who

live

as if

faith

does

not

matter

crave

!

the

diligent

those

who

pursue

Christ

in

faith

are

richly

supplied

J.C.

Ryle

in a

commentary

on this

text

said

do we

wish

to

grow

in

grace

do

we

desire

to

have

a

stronger

faith

brighter

hope

and

clearer

knowledge

beyond

doubt

we

do

if

we

are

true

Christians

then

let

us

live

fully

up

to

our

light

and

improve

every

opportunity

so

we

have

this

picture

here

in

the

parables

of

the

revelation

and

the

response

of

kingdom

growth

then

in

verse

26

we

see

the

mystery

of

kingdom

growth

the

mystery

and

he

said

the

kingdom

of

God

is

if

a

man

should

scatter

seed

on

the

ground

he

sleeps

and

rises

night

and

day

and

the

seed

sprouts

and

grows

he

knows

not

how

the

earth

produces

by

itself

first

the

blade

then

the

ear

then

the

full

grain

in

the

ear

but

when

only

mark

records

this

parable

and

the

point

of it

is

that

there

is

much

beyond

man's

comprehension

and

control

in the

expanse

of the

kingdom

of

God

there's

much

beyond

man's

comprehension

and

control

in

expanse

of the

kingdom

of

God

the

seed

must

be

sown

we

must

propagate

the

truth

we

must

put

the

lamp

on

a

stand

right

but

there's

much

beyond

that

that

we

will

not

understand

now at

this

point

let me

give

you

a

little

bit

of

a

warning

as

you

study

parables

to

not

over

analyze

them

right

you

can

dissect

this

into

little

tiny

pieces

and

miss

the

point

altogether

you

could

do

this

by

saying

wait

wait

who

is

who

is

the

man

who

is

it

that

he's

talking

about

here

is

the

man

us

is

the

man

us

we

scatter

seed

and

we

don't

know

how

we

sleep

and

rise

we

don't

know

what's

happening

right

we

could

say

that

but

we

also

see

that

the

man

then

puts

in

the

sickle

he

reaps

a

harvest

so

wait

a

second

do

we

reap

a

harvest

is

it

us

that

reaps

the

harvest

when

there's

maturity

what

is

he

talking

about

in

this

regard

or

how

about

the

symbolism

of

rising

night

and

day

you

could

overthink

that

as

well

the

key

to

all

of

this

though

is

to

see

that

he

knows

not

how

he

knows

not

how

1st

corinthians

3

5

and

9

there

was

debate

in

the

corinthian

church

about

whom

followed

who

in

verse

5

Paul

writes

what

then

is

apollos

what

is

paul

servants

through

whom

you

believed

as

the

lord

assigned

to

each

i

planted

!

apollos

watered

but

god

gave

the

growth

so

neither

he

knew

plants

nor

he

knew

waters

as

anything

but

only

god

who

gives

the

growth

he

who

plants

and

he

who

waters

are

one

and

each

will

receive

his

wages

according

to

his

labor

for

we

are

god's

fellow