Seeds of The Kingdom

by Eric Greene, Pastor of Thomson Memorial PCA in Centreville, Mississippi

Rev. Eric Green with our students Eugene Kruzhkov and Denis Denisov

For the 2010 Bible Conference I had the privilege of coming to St. Petersburg to give lectures and to meet the students at the seminary. This was my first time to visit Russia and to develop friendships with ministers in this part of the world. Therefore I did not know what to expect, what the culture was like, nor the background of the students. Such unknown circumstances present a challenge for any teacher; especially for one like me who is used to only the American culture and language. However, my disadvantage of a limited cultural experience set me up to appreciate the one universal church of Christ expressed at this seminary.

Upon arrival at the seminary I gave lectures on the book of Acts for three days; focusing on its theme, structure, and the church planting experiences of Paul in his first and second missionary journeys. The students learned how the book of Acts teaches that God’s church is His new creation, a catholic body, and is planted by seeking common ground with potential converts. As I got to know the students, it was clearly evident that they possessed the same desire to grow God’s kingdom throughout the nations by bringing a full maturity to their local churches.

Two passages of scripture adequately summarize my observation of the seminary. In Matt. 13:32 Christ says that when the mustard seed “is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” Also Zechariah 4:10 says, “For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” At that time Zerubbabel simply had the small plumb line in his hand for measuring the new temple’s foundation. In response, some despised that “small thing” in his hand. In the same way some may despise the planting of small mustard seeds. “Small things” do not have a glorious appearance, and it takes faith to see the magnificent tree that will grow from a little seed.

Having this faith the students are optimistic against all odds. As Abraham “who, contrary to hope, in hope believed” (Rom.4:18); even these students have the faith to see that they are seeds of God’s all-conquering kingdom. The class of twelve students was between the ages of 23 and 58. They came from the extremities of eastern and western Russia, and other surrounding nations; including one evangelist to Russian speaking Jews in Israel. This school attracts seeds from various denominations and nations. Here they are trained in Biblical Reformed teaching, and then sent back to their churches with essential friendships that will last a lifetime.

I was impressed with one minister’s testimony, named Jeny. Three years ago, after having been a believer for 15 years, he was tempted to forsake the Faith. He had been heavily influenced by liberal theologians from Europe and America who assumed that the Bible was full of contradictions and fallacies. Well, after coming to the SRS seminary, he started reading the Russian translation of Through New Eyes, by Jim Jordan. At first he thought the book was a bunch of rubbish because of the emphasis on Biblical symbolism. But after reading the entire book, Jeny said he felt like he was born again. He came to know that the Bible was not an assortment of contradictory perspectives on God or Jesus, which the liberals had wrongly and arrogantly taught. The salvation of the living God is revealed in Scripture, and is organically united from Genesis to Revelation, consistent in all its parts, and necessary for the maturity of God’s people. Jeny’s testimony is unique because he came from an academic background; yet the illumination of the Bible, and his rest therein, is a common experience with all of these students.

They have an insatiable hunger for God’s word and a desire to lead their local churches in reverent worship; leading the way of impacting a spiritually dark culture with the light of Christ. May God bless them with the encouragement of seeing much fruit in this life, even a rapid growth of God’s kingdom now; so that in centuries to come the effects of the 20th century dark-age will be redeemed with the Gospel.

Interview with Rev. Eric Green