In the Montgomery
Advertiser, dated Friday, June 13, 2008, there was an article
about a date
palm that had been growing since the year 2005. While this alone would
not have
been noteworthy, the real story was to be found in the fact that it was
growing
from a seed that was estimated to be 2,000 years old! “The
little tree was
sprouted in 2005 from a seed recovered from Masada,
where rebelling Jews committed suicide rather than surrender to Roman
attackers. Radiocarbon dating of seed fragments clinging to its roots,
as well
as other seeds found with it that didn’t sprout, indicate
they were about 2,000
years old—the oldest seed known to have been sprouted and
grown.” Dr. Sarah
Sallon said that “She hopes there’s a chance to use
it to restore the extinct
Judean date palm, once prized not only for its fruit but also for
medicinal
uses.”
This is an amazing
story worthy of our sincere
consideration. Think about it. A seed preserved in that arid area of
the world
and planted 2,000 years later and the same results occur—a
tree, a date palm
began to grow. How can that be? Believers in the Genesis’
account of creation
understand the natural law of propagation in the vegetative kingdom.
Moses
wrote in Genesis 1:11-12:
“Then
God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that
yields seed, and the
fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind whose seed is in
itself, on
the earth,’ and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass,
the herb that
yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit,
whose seed
is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was
good” (NKJV).
God placed life in the seed in order
that it might produce after its kind. Time does not affect this law of
reproduction
in the vegetative kingdom. Regardless of how old the seed might be, if
life is
still present, the seed will germinate and produce after its kind if it
is
placed in a suitable environment favorable for growth. In this
instance, it was
a date palm.
In Luke 8:4-15,
Jesus presented a parable regarding a sower who went out to sow seed
and the
four different soils where the seed fell. When the seed fell in the
good ground
it produced “some a hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirty” (Matthew 13:8). In
His interpretation of this parable, the Lord stated that “The
seed is the word
of God” (V.11). The law of producing after its kind regarding
a seed is also
true concerning the Word of God. When it is planted in a heart that is
sincere
and one of integrity, it will produce after its kind; that is to say,
when the Gospel
of Jesus Christ is received in an honest heart and is believed and
obeyed, it
will produce a child of God, a Christian, nothing more and nothing less.
Jesus said
“The words that I speak to you are spirit,
and they are life” (John 6:63). The apostle Paul declared,
“For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to
salvation for
everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the
Greek” (Romans 1:16).
The writer of the Book of Hebrews spoke of the power of the Word of God
when he
wrote, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and
sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and
of
joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart”
(Hebrews 4:12). James in his epistle wrote that “the
implanted word” is “able
to save your souls” (1:21). In 1
Peter 1:22-23,
we read the following, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in
your obedience to
the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from
the heart
fervently: having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, through the word of god, which liveth and
abideth” (ASV).
The power to produce
and in the matter pertaining to
converting a heart to Christ is found in the seed (Word of God) and not
in the
sower. The apostle Paul put it this way, “I planted, Apollos
watered, but God
gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he
who
waters, but God who gives the increase” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
Another matter that
is essential to our understanding
of the power of the seed (Word of God) to produce is this, it does not
matter
when the seed (Word of God) is planted in the soil (heart of man); it
will
produce after its kind. As in the story regarding the date palm, the
Word of
God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, will produce Christians in this
century as it
did in the first century when it was first preached on the day of
Pentecost
(Acts 2). As the Spirit enabled Peter, this apostle, along with the
other
eleven, preached the good news relative to the Christ who had been sent
by the
Father to die for the sins of mankind (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:8; Hebrews 2:9).
Peter’s
sermon dealt with the facts that Jesus Christ
was crucified, rose from the dead and that He ascended to His Father
(Acts
2:22-33). Many of the hearers were moved by this sermon and inquired of
the
apostles what they should do (Acts 2:36). They were instructed by Peter
to “Repent,
and let everyone of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy
Spirit” (V. 38). About
three thousands souls responded in a positive manner to these commands
and were
baptized that very day (V. 41). Luke records that the early disciples
praised
God and had favor with all the people. “And the Lord added to
the church daily
those who were being saved” (V. 47).
When the Gospel of
Jesus Christ is preached in its
purity and simplicity, it will produce Christians today as it did two
thousand
years ago. There is no need to place a prefix or a suffix to the name
Christian. This was the name that was divinely given by the Lord to the
early
disciples (Acts 11:26). Christians collectively comprise the church of
our Lord
Jesus Christ. It is neither a sect nor a denomination; rather, it is
the body
of Christ (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians
1:22-23).
When individuals
believe the facts of the Gospel and
obey its commands, Jesus Christ saves them from their sins and adds
them to His
church. It is only when the Word of God is mixed with the doctrines of
men that
the results are different from what the pure Gospel (seed) will
produce. And
that is the main reason why there are thousands of denominational
bodies today.
If the pure Gospel was preached and if the same seed was planted in the
hearts
of men today, there would only be Christians and one church.
As children of God, we
should be busy sowing the seed (Word
of God) in the hearts of men and women so that they also could know the
Savior
and the joy of salvation. “Those who sow in tears Shall reap
in joy. He who
continually goes forth weeping, Bearing seed for sowing, Shall
doubtless come
again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalm
126:5-6).
