Germinate... Don't Stagnate

Oh, it's not very often that I get up and give a sermon when I get done playing drums.

Usually either another band starts playing or we start tearing down. I'm not really sure what to do now with myself. It's kind of weird. I don't know what to do.

I appreciate the choir, very fine voice. I could hear you well in my ears, which is nice. My monitors were nice and loud, which was great. I could hear you guys well. But thank you for the hard work that you put into it. Brethren, you know, there's a significant number of lessons that we can gather from the creation which God has provided us. You take a look around this world. You can see His power and His majesty when you observe the grandeur of the mountains. You can see the power in the ocean waves. You can see His loving care and the blessings that He's put into place on this earth. There's food. There's water. There's abundance. We can see His meticulousness, His precision in the complexity of various natural pathways through biochemistry, through the laws of nature. God reveals His wisdom in the vast and the powerful things, and He also reveals His wisdom in the things which seem small and insignificant. This is a fava bean seed. I chose a fava bean because it was the largest seed that I had that you could probably see in the back. If I figured I'd choose anything smaller, you wouldn't even know what I was holding up. You'd have to believe me when I tell you what it is. But in the smallest and the most seemingly insignificant of things, God has placed complex design. Everything necessary for the life of this plant, the instructions in its DNA, the necessary components for it to develop not just initially, but in some ways throughout its entirety of its life. It's all contained in this tiny little package. Now, this is a giant seed compared to other seeds, but in this little package contains all of those things. Again, this seed is big enough. Those of you in the back of the room hopefully can see it. But whether it's this size, whether it's bigger, whether it's significantly smaller, everything that this seed needs for its future growth really is contained within. The instructions, at least, to obtain anything else that it might need. And inside of this seed, it is just waiting, dormant until the conditions are right for that growth to be triggered and for germination to begin. This seed is not dead. This seed is waiting. And there's a huge distinction there that we need to understand. The seed is not dead. The seed is waiting. There are some seeds that can remain dormant for upwards of thousands of years in dry and ideal conditions. And there have even been examples of seeds which were found in the fossilized remains of animals that they then germinated from the interior of an animal that they found preserved in the ice or found fossilized in this situation. They found seeds that have been frozen in jars. They found... or frozen in jars, frozen in ice. They found seeds that have been stored in jars, ancient times, and they've been germinated, and they've grown thousands of years later. The seed remains dormant until conditions are right for growth. Now, when this seed is exposed to water, the process of germination begins. So when this guy is exposed to water, the instructions inside of that seed are going to begin to be carried out. The dormancy will end. It'll start to absorb water through the seed coat, causing enzymes to activate. The seed will swell, and that seed coat will break open.

Pretty soon, there's a little radical, the beginning of a primary root, that'll come out of the bottom of this and start reaching downward through the soil. Or, in the case of if you're doing this on a countertop with your paper towels, you threw your paper towel. At that point, there will be a primary stem that comes up called a pumule. Okay, and they come through. They grow upward toward the light, using the nutrients inside of this husk for its initial growth. And that's one of the reasons that you can sprout these things without soil, is because everything they need, especially for that initial stage of growth, is right there. It's all present to begin with. Water activates the process, nutrients from the environment, nutrients from cellular respiration that are driven by sunlight, then do the rest. You know, the process is truly incredible. It really is. It's a marvel of nature when you consider what a seed is capable of doing. What's interesting is much of the significant growth of a seed takes place long before we ever see the seed actually break the surface of the ground. In fact, the first primary leaves, when those start to come through the ground, they begin to unfurl. There's been an incredible amount of growth that is taking place, leading up to that point. And in a sense, sometimes as these seeds are germinating, it can be really difficult to tell whether or not growth is taking place or not. Remember a young man when I taught botany out at state and high school? We, part of the class, we grew plants from seed that we would sell as a part of a plant sale. I think some of you guys actually bought starts from us back in the day. But depending on whatever seeds the kids selected and decided that they wanted to grow, they would often see the growth happening on other groups' tables, and they would be looking at their own seed trays and see nothing and start to get a little bit concerned. They became very concerned parents at that point in time with their seeds. It was very discouraging for them to not see growth in their seed trays, but to see flourishing growth at times in others. Their assumption was that growth took place at the exact same rate, regardless of whatever you were in that sense.

I remember in one particular case—and this is the one that sticks out in my mind—in one particular case, one impatient student grabbed his seed trays with no growth on them whatsoever, walked him over to the trash can, flipped it over, and shook him out over the trash can, only to find out that all of the seeds in his seed tray were in fact germinated. They just hadn't broken soil yet. He was a couple days too early. The time wasn't yet. The conditions were right. He'd been doing all the right things. He'd been plenty of water, plenty of light, but the results were just on the other side of his impatience.

And he hurriedly scooped his little plants back up and tried to replant them and tried to rewater them and get them set. Brethren, have you ever had this happen in your own life? Have you ever had this happen in your own life? As you're examining the steps that you're making, evaluating the work that you're putting in, and maybe not seeing visible fruit? Become discouraged. You begin to doubt whether the efforts are worth it at all. Consider throwing in the towel and maybe pivoting towards something else. Have you ever found yourself digging up in doubt something that you planted in faith? Have you ever found yourself digging up something as a result of your doubts that you planted firmly in faith? That concept comes from a quote by a woman named Elizabeth Eliot. It comes out of a book that she wrote entitled Alone with God. Scripture illustrates to us this is not a new struggle. You know, doubts, concerns, timing, all of these things. We know that creation itself gives us a framework for understanding why growth takes the kind of time that it does. The reality is God works in us long before He works through us. God is working in us transformatively long before He begins to work through us. But sometimes in our impatience for results or in our own discouragement, we shortcut the process or we begin to assume that God wasn't faithful because we haven't experienced those promises in our desired timetable. So what about us? Today in this sermon, I'd like to explore this concept and I'd like to consider how this principle applies to our lives spiritually, as well as our application in some of our goals and our aspirations. So the title of the message today is germinate, don't stagnate. Germinate, don't stagnate.

When it comes to germination in a seed, there are three primary factors needed in order to enable a seed to germinate and for the growth of that plant to take place. The first thing that has to happen is the seed coat needs to break down. The protective barrier around that seed needs to dissolve enough that water can get through it and that water is the second step. It begins to enter that seed, activate the necessary enzymes, begin the growth process. So it has to get through the seed coat, that water has to begin the process, and then lastly light is going to orient that plant and cause further growth. Okay, so we're going to take a look at these three things today. We're going to explore them and kind of see spiritually how this impacts our lives as well as our goals and our aspirations. The seed coat around this seed, so you can't see it from where you are, but this seed's done a pretty good job already starting to break open that seed coat a little. Maybe it germinated in my coat pocket. That'd be a problem. But it'd wake up and find a fava bean in it. That'd be kind of cool, actually. It's like, oh, look at that! But anyway, it's already started to break that seed coat open a little bit. So there is a direct route for water if we decided to germinate this seed straight to the embryo of that plant. That seed coat is a protective barrier. It protects the embryo inside from being damaged by the elements. It protects it against desiccation, protects it against physical damage. For germination to take place, water has to get across that seed coat. For most plants, this is really easy. Most plants have a seed coat that, when exposed to water, they begin to dissolve and it enables water to cross that barrier. Most plants, that seed coat will soften. It becomes flexible, allows the water through, and the growth process can begin.

Recently, on this latest trip that I took down to Mexico City, some friends that I stayed with from Acapulco sent me home with some homemade Dulce de Tamarindo. Some of you might be familiar with Dulce de Tamarindo. They're a sweetened tamarind pulp that has Mexican spices mixed into them. They're a candy, essentially, but these ones were not prepackaged factory-made. These were homemade. They came in little plastic wrappers. You know, they came just like you would get somebody creating them at home. They're delicious and they were a very appreciated gift. I had never had this variety before, so imagine my surprise when I bit into them and there were seeds inside.

Not just small seeds, big tamarind seeds inside of these things with some of the flesh still on them. And that was actually pretty delicious to chew the stuff off of those. Really good.

I didn't know, sorry customs, but those came home with me even though I said I had nothing to declare. I didn't expect there were seeds inside. But for those that aren't aware, Tamarind's a large broad-leafed tree that is originally native to the continent of Africa. They came across, they got planted in Latin America. They're exceptionally popular in Latin American cuisine. They provide this very kind of sweet, sour flavor that is just amazing. It's very, very good. I wasn't planning on planting the seeds, though I did suggest to my wife that we should germinate them and actually plant them. So I started down the road of like, what would it take to germinate these things? And one of the things that I found that was really interesting is it turns out Tamarind seeds cannot be germinated in the standard way. You can't just wrap them in a wet paper towel and stick them up on the counter and let them do their thing. They'll just sit there. They won't do anything. You can't stick them in water, they'll just rot. A Tamarind seed has a protective coating on the outside of it, a seed coat that is exceptionally thick and waterproof. The only way for a Tamarind seed to be germinated properly is to scarify the seed coat. Some of you that are gardeners will understand that term. You have to use a file or a knife or a set of clippers to clip a little piece of the seed coat off so that water can actually get through it. Because the seed has too protective of a seed coat to let anything in. It's got too protective of a seed coat to let anything into it.

And so it prevents germination, it prevents growth, it prevents the ability for life to come from this seed. So in order for you to actually get this plant to germinate, you have to scarify the seed. You have to cut it, you have to file the exterior, you have to give the water the ability to now break through that very difficult outer coat in order to allow water inside and the growth process to begin. Without some form of damage to the seed, growth cannot take place. Would you turn with me please to the book of Job?

In the book of Job, we are introduced to a man named Job. And from the outset, what we see about Job is he is described as blameless and upright. He is someone who is righteous, he is someone who is fearing God, he's shunning evil, he is doing the things that he should be doing. One day, what we see is that Satan approaches God and as a result of that interaction, Satan has been given permission to go and touch everything in Job's life except his person.

Job's livestock were raided, his servants were killed, his sheep were killed, and all the servants that were tending them, the camels were raided, his sons and daughters die in a homeclo- I mean, it's a horrendous story of what Job experiences and what Job goes through. Job is in mourning, he arises at the news, he tears his robe, he shaves his head, he falls to the ground, and he worships God. He falls to the ground and he worships God. Now Satan frustrated that he didn't get the answer and the response out of Job that he wanted, which was he wanted Job to curse God, and Job didn't.

So Satan goes back to God and he says, you know, yeah, a man can essentially deal with anything until you actually touch him personally. He's provided permission to go and afflict Job directly, and so he does. Job is afflicted with painful boils, and in the midst of his affliction he mourns in ashes and in sackcloth. And as the story progresses, we see Job's friends arrive, three of them provide some lousy counsel, horrible advice, and it isn't until Elihu points out that Job is so focused on the suffering that he's experienced and the view that Job has of that suffering being punitive and unjust that Elihu points out, Job, you're missing the point.

You're missing the point of this. That through that pain that Job is experiencing, Job is being refined and is being drawn closer to God. Through that pain came growth. Through that pain came growth. Go to Job 42. Job 42. Sorry, I had you turn to Job and then I started monologuing. Job 42. We're going to pick up Job's response once God reveals himself to Job in the way that he does. Right? God comes to Job and he says, he starts to ask him questions. He starts to ask Job, he starts out in verse 38, who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man. I will question you and you shall answer me. And he goes through a series of of dissertations, we might say. And then we get to Job 42. And we're going to look at Job's response after this takes place. In the New Living, or in the New King James, it says, Job answered the Lord beginning in Job 42 in verse 1. Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do everything and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you. You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?

Job says, therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. He says, listen, and please let me speak. You said I will question you and you shall answer me. He says, I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. I've been going through this year in the Bible read through in the New Living translation. I try to switch translations up every few years. This year's a New Living translation. I want to read it to you in the New Living. It says, then Job replied to the Lord, I know that you can do anything and no one can stop you. You asked, who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance? It is I. I like that. It is I.

And I was talking about things that I knew nothing about, things that were far too wonderful for me. You said, listen, and I will speak. I have some questions for you and you must answer them. I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.

Brethren, it's a truism in our lives as well. Sometimes we experience pain, experience trials, we experience challenges, difficulty, as a way of scarifying our seed coat, so to speak, as a way of nicking that seed coat so that the water can get in. To allow that living water in so that true spiritual growth, sometimes some of the most difficult spiritual growth that we will ever experience in our lives, can take place. It's not every circumstance. Sometimes the lessons come easy. Sometimes the lessons come easy. But if you find yourself wondering why you might be experiencing difficult circumstances and maybe even feeling upset and otherwise targeted, and you're doing everything that you should be doing, it's likely that God is germinating something in you spiritually that is going to grow and develop and produce much fruit. Brethren, trust the process. Trust the process. Trust God. Trust His loving-kindness. Trust His care. Trust His plan for us. And submit yourself to the process. Don't dig up in doubt what you planted in faith. Don't dig up what is there as a result of your doubts and your concerns. This is a little bit of a hot take. I'm going to mention it. It's a little bit of a hot take. Some of you are familiar with Tony Robbins. I don't know how many of you have heard of Tony Robbins before. Okay. Tony Robbins has a little bit of a hot take on this concept. He often talks about how suffering is me-focused. He says suffering is me-focused. He talks about how all human suffering comes from excessive self-focus and self-absorption. He says suffering is actually not caused by external situations, but instead by the meaning that we give to them and the inward focus on how it affects me. That's what he says. He talks about how it is impossible to suffer and be simultaneously grateful. That it's impossible to suffer and be serving and helping and caring for others. He says suffering comes about when we focus inwardly.

Now, he says that is not to minimize pain. That is not to minimize challenge. His point is that pain is a part of life. Suffering is a choice, and that's the hot take. That's what Tony Robbins says. Suffering is a choice to dwell on that pain, and that can be overcome by a shift in a person's focus, in a shift of perspective. We see that in Job's story. We actually see that shift of perspective in Job's story. When Job was put into a position where he had to acknowledge his place in the universe, so when Job had to actually face down the creator of the universe and go, yeah, I was talking about stuff I didn't know I was talking about. When he had to face that part of him in the universe in that way, it forced him to shift his perspective away from what was happening to him, what he had chosen to dwell on and to ruminate on with his friends, and he shifted to who and what God is. And in that moment, he understood. In that moment, he understood, and what other conclusion can someone come to in that moment? What other conclusion can we come to, other than to repent, in dust and ashes? For we speak of things we often don't understand.

In that moment, Job comes to a realization about himself that he would not have been able to come to without the pain that he experienced. And from that pain came growth. From that scarification of that seed, so to speak, came the ability for growth to take place. Let's go over to Romans 5. Romans 5. We'll pick it up in verse 3. Romans 5 and verse 3. Paul kind of speaks to this same concept. Romans 5 and verse 3. He speaks to this idea of this and the character that it builds in us. Coming out of this idea in the previous chapter of rejoicing in the hope and in the glory of God, he writes the following. He says, pardon me, Romans 5 and verse 3.

Paul writes, not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance, character, character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Paul's point is that tribulation, pain, we might say, when properly focused, produces perseverance, produces character, produces patience. That character leads to hope. It helps us to understand where that hope truly lies. Not in man, not in the things of man, but in God and in the glory of his appearing. And when that perspective is in place, when that perspective is in place, we can face any number of challenges. We can face any number of trials in our lives because God is in the proper place in our life, over all and within all, even our own sometimes very tough outer shell. The second thing that's necessary, absolute critical component, is water. Water is necessary. It actually is the signal that that dormant seed is waiting for that illustrates the conditions are right for growth. So when that seed gets water, it goes, ha ha, finally! The conditions are perfect for me to begin germinating and to begin growing. There's plenty of water. It permeates the seed coat, activates the enzymes inside. Those enzymes start digesting the stored nutrients in the seed. It makes that little radical. It makes that pumule. And then ultimately, it's going to create a mature plant. I'm going to go over to John 4. Symbolically, water has been used in Scripture throughout to represent the Spirit of God. It represents His power, His mind, and ultimately what He is. John 4, Christ is speaking to the woman at the well. She's come. She's gathering water in the heat of the day. It's the sixth hour, so it's already warmed up. You know, it's already noon. She's gathering water in the heat of the day, and Christ asks the woman for a drink.

She actually protests a little bit. You see her protest. She says, you know, based on cultural standards, based on dealings between Jews and Samaritans, she protests. But what we see is Christ's response beginning in verse 10. It's John 4 in verse 10. Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. The woman said to Him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where, then, do you get that living water? Are you greater than our Father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself as well as his sons and his livestock?

Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water, springing up into everlasting life. You know, the woman responds in a fashion that actually in context is kind of humorous. She says, Please, please give me this water that I may never thirst again or have to come here to even draw. Please, that would be wonderful. You know, drawing water is hard work. Drawing water is hard work, and throughout the world it is one of the primary jobs of young women to draw and transport water, often over extremely long distances. Throughout our travels in Nigeria, you will see young ladies walking with huge jugs of water balanced on their heads, and they are walking sometimes for miles from the source of that water back to their home. And by the time they come and drop it off, it's time to go back and fetch more. I mean, it's just the reality of life for some people in some places. It's a dangerous job. It's difficult work, and it requires young women to give up any aspirations that they might have for a different future in order to meet their immediate need for survival. It's why these things that go in when good works puts a borehole into a village. That's why it's such an incredible blessing, because now you can get that water so quickly. You know, you don't have to worry about trying to go down to the to the river and draw this out. But there's echoes of that idea in this response. Please make it so I do not have to come down here and draw this water anymore. That would be wonderful. But she doesn't quite understand. Christ explains these waters. They're living waters. They are waters which are both living, in a sense, as well as giving life eternal.

That term living water is one that we see in John 7 verses 37 to 39 to describe the Spirit of God being poured out on those who would believe.

That idea of living waters, that Spirit of God working with us before we're baptized, working in us through the seed coat, so to speak. Through that seed coat, working in us after we're baptized allows for a cascade of transformations to take place within each of us. I'm going to go to Ezekiel 36. Pop over to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel was written, at least this section of Ezekiel, is written to the Israelites about a time that is coming in the future. The physical nation of Israel would be renewed, a time in the future when God would return them to their land, pour out His Spirit on them. It's a time that hadn't taken place yet, but is something coming in the future. Ezekiel 36, we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 24. Ezekiel 36 and verse 24. Notice the transformative concept that is built into this idea. Ezekiel 36 and verse 24. It says, For I will take you from among the nations, will gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. And then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Remove that hardened heart that just will not let go. I was going to put a heart of flesh in His people Israel. He's going to give them His Spirit to transform them. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my judgments and do them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people, and I will be your God. That pouring out of God's Spirit on the nation of Israel will cause a transformation within them. They will keep His laws. They will keep His statutes.

That heart of stone that is unwilling to listen. That heart of stone that just will not yield is a heart of flesh, one that now can be cut to the heart, so to speak. That can ultimately provide those things that God has asked. Listening to that Spirit, yielding themselves to it. They're going to have an opportunity to walk in God's statutes, to keep His judgments.

And that opportunity has not, to Mr. Foster's point earlier, has not been something that has been open and available to them to this point. But that time is coming. That is a beautiful doctrine that we have in the Church of God. It's a beautiful, beautiful doctrine that all mankind will have their opportunity. As that Spirit of God dwells in them, they become a new creation. They're delivered from that uncleanness. Just as all of us were transformed, were changed by the indwelling of God's Spirit, God took that heart of stone out of us, too. And He enabled us to hear Him, enabled us to yield to Him, to desire Him, and to grow spiritually. Galatians 5—we won't turn there—but Galatians 5 describes the process of this transformation. If you want to jot it down in your notes, it's Galatians 5, 22 through 23. It talks about the transformation that takes place in the life of a believer and the fruits that are developed in someone who's undergone this process of transformation—someone who's in a state of submission to God. When that Spirit dwells in us, when that water makes it through that seed coat, so to speak, and that germination process begins, there's a transformative process that takes place in which we grow and we mature over a lifetime, right? That's only the beginning of the process. Plants are going to come out of the soil, those leaves are going to unfurl, photosynthesis is going to take over, it's going to get the soil, the nutrients from the soil, it's going to do all the things it needs to do, and the resulting tree, once that spiritual DNA has been expressed, the resulting tree is going to express fruits of love and joy and peace—patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These are the things that we see produced from this plan, but those characteristics are only possible if we allow those living waters to transform us. They're only possible if we allow that water in, and they're only possible if we allow that process to go without our resistance and without our pushing back and holding back in that process of allowing God to work. And it's only going to work if we are oriented toward the light. That's the last factor that is in this process of germination, being oriented toward the light. And that's a critical factor in any plant growth, is the presence of light. The presence of light. You know, sometimes when we germinate a plant in artificial conditions, we wrap them in a wet paper towel, and then we store them in a warm, dark place. And you go, wait, what? Dark? They need light. Why are they in a dark place? Because it actually turns out that germinating them in that wrapped up, dark place simulates being in soil. It simulates being buried. And it's actually been exhibited that if you expose those seedlings to light too soon, they have stunted growth.

Which is kind of interesting. It's like there's a certain process in which they have to come out of darkness into light. They have to come out of that process into light at the right time to be able to follow and be able to grow in the direction of that light. That dark environment doesn't, you know, kind of put a major energy tax on the seed by trying to jump start photosynthesis too soon. Provides a consistent humidity and a consistent uniform process. But once those seedlings emerge, once those seedlings have come out of that seed and they have broken through that seed coat and you've got the little root and the little stem, now you got to plant them. Now you got to put them in the ground because they're ready. They're ready to take off and do the rest of their lives.

That seed has just enough stored nutrients in order to facilitate the growth of the radical and the pumule. If it doesn't get nutrients in the time that it needs, if it doesn't get sunlight in the right amount of time, it's over. It's done. When those leaves unfurl and photosynthesis takes over, that second phase of the plant's growth begins. And as that plant continues to grow, that photosynthesis, that water, and those nutrients in the soil, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, provides the raw materials for the plant to reach maturity. Light is essential.

Without it, the plant dies. Without light, the plant dies.

Let's go over to 1 John 1, verse 5. 1 John 1, verse 5. John's first epistle, John is doing his level best to ensure that the nature and the character of God is being established. You know, he was dealing with a number of challenges to the faith. He was dealing with a number of heresies that had come into the church at that point in time. And some of those heresies were trying to discuss certain factors about Jesus Christ that John knew to be false. And so John was, as an eyewitness, really pushing back against many of these things.

But what he's doing is trying to kind of contradict these first century heresies and to establish not just what was written about Christ, but what Christ revealed about the Father. That was the other piece that John is dealing with here. And so in 1 John 1 and verse 5, John writes the following. He says, this is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

There is no darkness in God. God is 100% light. Not 99% light, 1% darkness. Not, you know, one of those little lights that you condemn and turn it down to 50% this and that. He is 100% light all the time. Period. End of sentence. That's what John says.

The Greek term that John uses is phos. That's where we get phosphorus from.

The word is used both literally and metaphorically. God is described as dwelling in unapproachable light. He is dwelling in a glory, unapproachable light, which illuminates. We see that at one point in time in the kingdom, the city of God will be illuminated by the Father in Christ. Right? They are light in that sense, literally. But metaphorically, He is also light in the sense that He illuminates. He illuminates truth in opposition to falsehood, in opposition to ignorance. He is divine illumination. He represents that which is moral, that which is righteous, that which is pure. Right? God is all of these things. Scientifically, darkness is defined as the absence of light. Okay? That's how we define darkness in science, actually. If there is any shred of light, it is not officially dark. It's just a gradiation of how much light or how little darkness is the absence, complete and total absence of light. God is light, and there can be no darkness in Him because He is light. His very presence drives out that darkness. In John 8, in verse 12, Christ declares, I am the light of the world. I am the light of the world. And He goes on to say, He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. And so we recognize, as we follow Christ, as we remain in His presence, we are in the light.

Plants exhibit a really cool characteristic known as phototropism. Some of you are familiar with phototropism, but basically what it means is that the stems and the leaves of a plant will orient itself toward a light source. So whatever the strongest light source is, typically in an area, a plant will orient itself in that direction. What's kind of fun with that is when you're working with middle school kids and you're trying to demonstrate the concept, you can cover a plant with a box with just a little opening on one side of the box, and then leave it for a few days, and the plant will bend and grow toward the light of that opening.

And you pop the box off and go, look! The plant went over towards the light. Then, of course, because they're middle school kids, they want to turn it around and make the plant grow the other way, which you just show them, okay, fine, flip it around, show the other... and sure enough, a few days later, it's back the other direction. Right? It's phototropism. Then you get some kids that go, I want to make my plant a maze, and I want to make like a whole bunch of tunnels and make that plant grow through all those tunnels to get to, and sure enough, it will do that.

It will grow through the cardboard box to the point where there's an opening and grow right out of the opening if you leave it long enough. It's called phototropism, and it's something that plants do. It's really, really cool.

When you flip that box around, that plant will reorient itself toward the light. It will reorient itself toward that light which is so desperately needed for it to grow. It's truly incredible. That plant recognizes light, and it will grow toward its direction. It will grow in the direction of that light. Let's go to John 10. John 10 follows directly on the heels of John 9 and the instance that we see where he heals the blind man.

Okay, so Christ heals this blind man in John 9. Actually, I love this account in John 9. It's so... there's so much humor in it, actually, if you're reading it very carefully.

It's kind of one of those things that you see where, you know, you get a little frustrated with the Jewish leaders, and you can understand why Christ got frustrated, too. But basically, John 9, the healing of the blind man. The Jewish leaders are arguing that Christ, who he was, they're trying to argue who this person is, trying to argue whether he's a sinner or not, and whether or not a sinner could actually provide a miracle such as the one that this man experienced. And so they asked the man, the blind man, well, isn't this man a sinner?

And the man goes, I have no idea. He goes, what I know is that this morning I was blind, now I'm not. That's where the humor in this story is. The guy just keeps going, I don't know, I don't know. I couldn't see this morning, now I can. You tell me? Like, you tell me what's going on. They go, well, ask this man's parents. The parents are like, well, he's an old enough person, you ask him.

Like, it's a hilarious encounter, actually, in the way that they're inquisiting this individual. But, moral of the story. In John 10 and verse 1, Christ makes a point. He comes back after this whole situation in John 9, he makes a point. He says, verse 10, John 10 verse 1, sorry, John 10 verse 1. He says, most assuredly I say to you, he who does not enter by the sheepfold, or enters sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber.

He who enters the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice. And he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. When he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow, for they know his voice. And as Christ points out in verse 5, yet they will by no means follow a stranger. But they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of a stranger.

Christ says the sheep know his voice. They can recognize his voice. He calls them by name, he leads them out, and when he brings them out he goes before them, and they follow him because they know his voice. What he's saying in a different analogy is that they grow towards the light. They know what the light is, and they grow towards it. They can recognize it.

They understand what it is. They follow that voice that they know, whether one day if it's in front of them, and for whatever reason they get out ahead of the shepherd, and the next day it's behind them. They go, oh whoa, how did I get over here? Oh, turn around, and there he is.

They know it. They understand it. They grow towards it because it's that light that enables their growth, and it's that light and that voice that represents the truth of God. Now I'm probably going to get myself in a little bit of trouble for this, but there are a lot of sources of light out there today. There's a lot of sources of light, quote unquote, out there today. There are some very prominent online Christian voices, very prominent online Christian voices, that are selling their version of God and Christ. For some, Christ is a warrior, which of course he is. We recognize that. Of course he is. But Christ is a warrior, and the best thing that we as Christians can do right now in this life is wage war on the enemies of God today. That's what we need. We need another crusade. There are some that believe we should become completely and totally embroiled in this nation's political scene, and that we should force a change in this nation through politics. Some voices out there argue that in order to become a Christian, you must first become Jewish. That's the only true path to Christianity is through the traditions of the elders. For some, Christ doesn't stand for anything. Come as you are. Stay as you are. No problem. We'll sort it out in the end. There's no need for repentance. Others are apologists of the Bible. Some argue its veracity. Others argue against its veracity. Those are not the voice of our shepherd. They're not. But, Mr. Light, there's good stuff in there. You're right. There is. But there's also darkness.

That is not the voice of God. The voice of God is 100 percent light. And if we're not discerning, and if we don't exhibit great care—I mean great care—what we can do is sometimes find ourselves beginning to grow in that direction, to begin to grow towards that light. We might now start leaning a little more towards the warrior Christ, the political Christ, the Christ that doesn't have a standard, or toward the Christ that relies solely on the traditions of the elders. We may even find ourselves questioning the veracity of Scripture or reaching a point where we even go as far as saying, well, I believe this passage is canon, but not that one. Now, I'll be the decision of what's canon and what's not. I'm not saying that we shouldn't listen to podcasts. I'm not saying we shouldn't read commentaries. I'm not saying that we shouldn't watch videos of Christian apologists. What I'm saying is that if we're going to, we had better know the voice of our shepherd.

And we don't learn that voice from watching YouTube videos and watching podcasts. We learn it through prayer. We learn it through being in the Bible, through meditation, and through listening to God's Holy Spirit. Because if we don't, that cacophony out there right now that is trying to tell us who and what Jesus Christ is, there's aspects of that that can sound pretty good.

It can sound pretty accurate. And we can find ourselves completely and totally off base.

Brethren, we need to grow toward the light of the world, not the lights of the world, to the light of the world. All three of these factors—scurification, importance of water to the seed itself, growing towards the light—they're all factors that are involved in the process of germination and maturity of the plant. Now, sometimes, Mr. Kester brought out last week, we're now entering into this Passover examination period. We're entering into a time now in which we begin to look at our lives. And sometimes we can come into this examination period prior to the Passover, and we struggle to see the growth in our own lives. There's times where we sit there and we look and we go, boy, I'm just not seeing a whole lot of movement in this aspect. You know, I've talked with people every year that go, you know, despite all my efforts this past year, I'm still dealing with this. I'm still experiencing this. I'm still having challenges here. And they sometimes will even go as far as saying that after X number of years of being in the faith, how am I still experiencing this? Brethren, don't be discouraged as you go through this season of examination.

The question that we need to be asking ourselves is, are we germinating? Are we germinating? In other words, are we doing everything that we can in these various aspects of our life, letting God in to these aspects, yielding ourselves to Him, growing toward that light? Are we germinating? And the work that we're putting in right now just hasn't broke the soil yet.

Is the results on the other side of our impatience, so to speak?

The other question that we have to ask ourselves, though, is, have we stagnated?

Have we stagnated? Are we resisting God? Are we resisting God? Are we keeping Him at arm's length, not submitting ourselves fully to His instructions? Maybe we've subconsciously told God, well, I'll submit myself right up to this point, but you know what? No further. I will come to here, and that's all you get. I will not submit any further than this.

If you ask me to do that, I'm not doing that. Are we resisting God in this process? Are we growing towards Him, or are we growing away from Him? Sometimes our protective coat refuses His attempts. Sometimes we're not letting that water in like we should. Maybe we're not growing toward the light. One of the challenges that comes from germination is it's a one-way street.

A plant can't un-germinate. It can't go back into the seed and go dormant again. It's a one-way street. Once that germination process has begun, the plant either matures or dies. The seedling either grows or doesn't.

You know, in that sense, if we conclude as a result of our examination that there may be some changes that need to be made in our lives, brethren, the beauty of God is there's always room for that. There is always room for that. If we are cut to the heart and we recognize the need for repentance, and we come to Him, and we seek Him, and we put in the effort, there is always room for those things. But we also need to keep in mind that plants germinate and mature at different rates. They germinate and mature at different rates. Some pop up in as little as 24 hours. Radishes, for example, they're up and out, man. They're like, hello, I'm a radish, look at me. Tada, I'm a radish, look at me. And you've got other things that are two years in the process of germination, and you don't see anything. Well, it just germinates under the soil and waits and waits and waits, and then eventually, oh, it's not dead. Look at that. We need to recognize that they mature at different rates. We never know. We never understand what people are growing out of.

We don't understand the experiences that people had in their lives. We don't understand the trauma that people experienced and have had to overcome in order to reach the same place where others of us may have started. So sometimes, when we get into this time of year, we look at ourselves, or at times, we might even look at other people, even though we know we shouldn't, and we compare ourselves. We conclude that the process of growth should be further along, and we can't believe that we or that other person may be doing X, Y, or Z, or they can't believe that they still do this, or say this, or whatever it may be. But brethren, sometimes, maybe, just maybe, that individual is taking a little longer to germinate. And that growth is just under the surface at the moment, and almost there. Provided we're letting God in, provided we're letting Him change, provided we're growing towards Him, then we're still growing. Don't be discouraged. Trust the process. Trust God. Trust the work He's doing in your lives, and trust that whatever it is that you're experienced, it's taking place with the express understanding of the Creator of the universe.

That you can rely on Him. You can confide in Him. You can ask Him for His help. He's not too busy. He's not uncaring. He wants you to be successful. He loves you. He's actually planned for your success. Again, don't dig up and doubt what we've planted in faith. You turn with me, please, to the final scripture today, Philippians 1. Philippians 1, and we're going to go ahead and read through verse 7. Philippians 1 and verse 7. Philippians 1 verse 7, the apostle Paul writes, he says, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Just as it's right for me to think this of you all because I have you in my heart, in as much as both in my chains and in my defense and the confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. Brethren, we are in this together. We are all partakers of the same grace, the same opportunity that God has provided us. We're in this together. Don't be discouraged. God's planned for your success. He has planned that that work He has begun will be completed. All He is asking is for you to let Him in. All He's asking is for you to let Him in to allow Him to water us, to allow Him to guide the growth as we make effort to grow toward Him. And He says He will take care of the rest. And that extends into a number of areas in our lives, a number of areas. So as you undergo this year's examination process, as we start to head into that process, I'd like to leave you with three reflection questions to answer, three things that I'd like you to answer this year. Ask yourself, what has God planted in my life? What has God planted in my life? Number two, where am I tempted to quit because I don't see fruit yet?

Where am I tempted to quit because I don't see fruit yet?

And then lastly, number three, am I mistaking invisible growth for no growth?

Am I mistaking invisible growth for no growth? You know, God is going to provide us with opportunities to grow. He's going to give us opportunities and chances to learn and to understand His way more fully. Invite them. Invite those opportunities. Don't keep him at arms bay. Don't resist. Put in the work in full faith and full assurance that God will deliver on what He's promised. Brethren, let's germinate, not stagnate.