Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.” Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.”
Jesus used many similar stories and illustrations to teach the people as much as they could understand. In fact, in his public ministry he never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them. Mark 4:26-34
“There are secret features of regeneration which, although innumerable, a person knows scarcely anything about. From their early infancy to the last of their life in the world, and thereafter to eternity, the person who is in goodness is being born again every moment, not only as to their inner life, but also as to their outer, and this by amazing processes.” Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven §5202
“Good and truth are like seeds and the soil. Inner good is like seed that is productive, though not unless it is sown in good soil. Exterior good and truth are like the soil in which it is made productive….Facts and deeds are like the soil. When a person loves the facts that confirm what is good and true, and when he experiences joy in acting them out, those facts are seeds that are present and growing in the natural as the soil; and there they grow. As a result good is made fruitful and truth is multiplied, and they are constantly springing up out of that soil into the person’s rational mind and perfecting it.” Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven §3671
Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of G.I. Gurdjieff and P.D. Ouspensky, Vincent Stuart, London, 1957
CREDITS
Dr. Sue Johnson, “Love Sense” https://www.youtube.com/@DrSueJohnson
Emanuel Swedenborg, www.swedenborg.com
John Clark Echols, www.clarkechols.com
Solomon Keal “Affection for Truth” www.solomonkeal.net
Podcast Host: John Clark Echols
Music Credit: Solomon Keal
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I invite you to continue to listen to the next episode. Be well.
