The Corn of Wheat; or Growth Through Death
S. C. Gordon, B. D. John 12:24-26 Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it stays alone: but if it die… We see the principle of propagation by self-surrender operating in the region of — I. INDIVIDUAL LIFE. 1. if a man will be an individual in the strict sense of the term he will be his own destroyer. If the seedling of a babe would grow physically he must — (1) give, by stretching forth the tendrils of its undeveloped faculties; and(2) take, by the aliment which such exercise supplies. Thus the first condition of physical life is faith. The same law operates in — 2. The acquisition of knowledge. A man must believe before he knows, and faith is the depositing of self in the ground of human testimony, a boy must work with self deposited in the ground of study under disciplinary influences, and convert his time, etc., into materials for developing the seeds of knowledge. 3. The formation of character. When we say that a man has character we mean he has acquired self-control. Self-control is the fruit of submission. Submission during the period of youth grows into those principles of conduct which are the polestar of manhood, through mortifying acts of obedience. II. SOCIAL LIFE. A man is obliged to work for others if he would enlarge and propagate his life and influence. We see this illustrated in — 1. Family relationships. The law of marriage enjoins the giving up of self to another, so as to become a larger, happier self. Parents who fulfil God's idea, think, work, pray, live for and in their children. If the father does not thus lose himself and die he "abides alone," and when he departs this life he has no one to propagate his likeness, and becomes extinct except in name. 2. Legislation. Law, to a certain extent, consists of those things which individuals have agreed to surrender for the maintenance of society and is the fruitage of seeds of individual knowledge put into the soil of public experience. 3. The extension of knowledge. Ideas and schemes in the mind are so many seeds having life in them which have to be cast into the ground of public opinion in order to bear fruit. They must get out of the mind if they are not to "abide alone." The thinker communicates his scheme to another, or publishes it in the newspaper, and by and by, under the influence of the opinions and suggestions of others, the thought, once his, bears fruit. This holds true of apparently trivial thoughts. A casual remark made in the hearing of a thoughtful friend may yield a rich harvest of knowledge. 4. Historic influence. The good that men do lives after them. Men in advance of their age are never known till they die. This is true of poets, statesmen, etc., but of none so much as Christ. No one was ever so misunderstood — so little known; but every succeeding century carries a truer picture of His unique life. III. CHRISTIAN LIFE. 1. Christ who was "the Life" had to surrender that life in order that He might be for and in the world. Had he "spared Himself" He would have abode alone, had He never been "bruised" He would not have been the "Bread of life." 2. So in regard to the principle of Christian life. Self is given away in holy efforts for others, in order to produce in them, and so be found again in, the fruits of righteousness. 3. The mainspring which sets all going is love. Love is self-sacrifice, and by that principle we live unto God and are filled. IV. THE RESURRECTION. Like the seed corn the body must be put into the ground if it would rise again and bear fruit. Conclusion: The subject teaches — 1. The difficulties of selfishness and the terrible daring and force of sin. (1) God has placed us under a system of laws which make it natural and imperative to serve others. To break through this system involves effort and secures self-destruction. (2) Yet sin has the audacity to recommend this course, and is thus the grand antagonist of nature as well as grace. 2. The nature and functions of Christianity — that it is no afterthought suggested by the fall, but what agrees with principles already in operation. 3. The feelings of awe and hope with which we should regard death. (S. C. Gordon, B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. WEB: Most certainly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.