Mark 4:1-33

Okay, please go ahead and have a seat and join me in the gospel of Mark chapter 4.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

! It's hard to believe it's already 2014.

If you've had your first denial experience yet, I've written the date 2014 and it just felt so weird to do it already.

And you know this time of year, many people, maybe you, make New Year's resolutions.

It's a common thing that happens and these resolutions are typically aimed at making us better versions of ourselves.

And I was reminded this past week that people have come and gone from our church

and one of their complaints was that the preaching here didn't make them feel good about themselves.

And I was reminded that that's not really the point of why we preach.

And the point of why we preach is to make much of Christ.

And the gospel properly presented will make you feel rather little about yourself.

Those things that you can do and accomplish on your own.

If you really understand the measure of sin, you will see that your image-bearing ability has destroyed by it.

That you were dead in that.

And those of us who have now placed our faith in Christ have been made alive again,

but we still are sick with sin.

It's still something we carry around.

It's a baggage.

It drags us down at times.

And so many New Year's resolutions are aimed at changing that part of us.

What we really ought to be devoting ourselves to is becoming more like Christ.

Depending more on the regenerative power of the Spirit to conform us into His image this year.

And so I hope with me, that's your plan for 2014.

That at the end of 2014, as we come to the first Sunday of 2015,

you can look back and say, my life better reflects the gospel.

I look more like Christ in 2015 than I did at the beginning of 2014.

And that is the aim of Mark's gospel.

He's trying to make much of Christ.

In fact, he doesn't even mention that he's the one that wrote the gospel of Mark

in an attempt to relegate who he is and exalt who Christ is.

It's history and tradition that holds that Mark was the one that in fact wrote this gospel.

And he's been driving us all along at this point to see who Jesus is.

That He is in fact the Son of God.

The Christ.

The one who came to bring redemption to the church.

To make us disciples of Jesus Christ.

To make much of Him.

And so as we look here at chapter 4, I'm going to do kind of an odd thing with it.

I'm going to read to you verse 1-34 to set the context.

And we're going to focus this morning on verses 10-12 to talk about why it was that Jesus spoke in parable.

Before we read together, let me just remind you that last week,

the stage that's set for us as he goes into this next set of teaching

is that he has returned more than likely to Capernaum,

which was kind of his home base in Galilee as he was ministering.

And he encountered, sort of all at the same time, a crowd and his family and the scribes.

And we talked a bit about this idea that C.S. Lewis put into play,

which is more than likely taken from this text,

that you cannot think of Christ as simply a good moral teacher

because he doesn't leave that option open for you.

But you either have to think of him as a liar, a lunatic,

or as Lord, who he actually says that he is.

And there's kind of a two-category system set up here by Mark

that you're either going to be one who does not believe that Jesus is the Christ

or one who does believe that he is the Christ.

Jesus says in verse 35 of chapter 34,

Here are my mothers and my brothers,

for whoever does the will of God,

he is my brother and sister and mother.

Those who do the will of God are part of the family of God.

And we saw that the will of God, the primary will of God,

the place in which all other wills for your life are rooted

is that we believe that Jesus is in fact the Christ, the Son of God.

So that continues here for us as he steps away from Capernaum

and goes back to the seashore as Capernaum was located

along the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee.

And so we'll begin reading in verse 1, chapter 4.

Again he began to teach beside the sea.

And a very large crowd gathered about him so that he got into a boat

and sat in it on the sea.

And the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

And he was teaching them many things and parables.

And in his teaching he said to them,

Listen.

A sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some seeds fell among the path.

And the birds came and devoured it.

Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil.

And immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil.

And when the sun rose, it was scorched.

And since it had no root, it withered away.

Other seed fell among thorns.

And the thorns grew up and choked it.

And it yielded no grain.

And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain,

growing up and increasing and yielding

thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

And he said,

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

And when he was alone,

those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables.

And he said to them,

To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God.

But for those outside, everything is in parables.

So that they may indeed see but not perceive.

And may indeed hear but not understand.

Lest they should turn and be forgiven.

And he said to them,

Do you not understand this parable?

How then will you understand all the parables?

The sower sows the word.

And these are the ones along the path where the word is sown.

When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground.

The ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.

And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while.

Then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word,

immediately they fall away.

And others are the ones sown among thorns.

They are those who hear the word,

but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches

and the desires for other things

enter in and choke the word,

and it proves unfruitful.

But those that were sown on the good soil

are the ones who hear the word

and accept it and bear fruit

thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.

And he said to them,

Is the lamp brought in to be put under a basket

or under a bed and not on a stand?

For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest,

nor is anything secret except to come to light.

If anyone has ears to hear,

let him hear.

And he said to them,

Pay attention to what you hear.

With the measure you use,

it will be measured to you,

and still more will be added to you.

For to the one who has,

more will be given,

and from the one who has not,

even what he has will be taken away.

And he said,

The kingdom of God is as if a man

should scatter seed on the ground.

He sleeps and rises night and day,

and the seed sprouts and grows.

He knows not how.

The earth produces by itself,

first the blade,

then the ear,

then the full grain in the ear.

But when the grain is ripe,

at once he puts in the sickle,

because the harvest has come.

And he said,

With what can we compare the kingdom of God,

or what parable shall we use for it?

It is like a grain of mustard seed,

which, when sown on the ground,

is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.

Yet when it is sown,

it grows up and becomes larger

than all the garden plants,

and puts out large branches

so that the birds of the air

can make nests in its shade.

With many such parables,

he spoke the word to them

as they were able to hear it.

He did not speak to them

without a parable,

but privately to his own disciples.

He explained everything.

Please join me in prayer.

Father, we do thank you this morning

for your word to us

by your scriptures.

And I pray, Father,

by your spirit,

as we boldly approach your throne,

clothed in the righteousness of Christ,

that you will have your way with us,

that you will shape our hearts,

that you will use our frailty

in speaking and hearing

and understanding

to conform us to the image of your Son.

Make us more like Him this morning.

And we pray this in His name.

Amen.

Our religion is a religion of words.

It is the way in which

the power of God is communicated to us

that the gospel itself,

this gospel message,

is the power of God

unto salvation.

Words give meaning and power

and give birth to ideas.

And it is this beautiful idea

of the kingdom of God coming

that Jesus has been presenting to us.

You remember back in chapter 1,

verse 15,

He says,

the time is fulfilled

and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel.

And He does that so often

in a very common way

in the speaking of parables,

which are short stories,

allegorical in nature,

and they're meant to teach

a much greater truth.

That's why Jesus spoke in this way

was to teach something greater.

So to draw your attention

to Mark 4, 10-12,

let's read it one more time.

And when He was alone,

those around Him with the twelve

asked Him about the parables.

And He said to them,

To you has been given

the secret of the kingdom of God,

but for those outside,

everything is in parables,

so that they may indeed see

but not perceive,

and may indeed hear

but not understand,

lest they should turn

and be forgiven.

So they asked the question,

Jesus,

why is it

that you speak

in parables?

We can see that

in the parallel version

of this story

in Matthew 13.

They say,

why is it

that you speak to them

in parables?

And the answer to that

in the case

that I'll build to you

is that it was

to veil the truth

and to unveil

or to reveal the truth.

To make the truth

very apparent to some

and not to others.

Now you recall,

as you ponder that,

you might think,

well how narrow.

Wouldn't Jesus have wanted

everyone to respond?

Wasn't that the point

of Him coming?

And preaching the gospel?

We've said over and over again

that the signs

that He was doing

was simply designed

to validate the message.

Isn't the message

incredibly important?

And yes,

it certainly is.

But recall

that we've also talked

about how very narrow

Jesus was.

He had an intended point

and a purpose

and a people

that He was coming

to redeem.

This is why

He spoke

in parables.

We've seen great crowds

follow Him.

And I have said to you

repeatedly,

that these people

were not

by and large

regenerate.

These people

did not believe

that He was

who He says

He is.

We see in Acts 1,

we see 120 gathered

after His death.

120 that were faithful

to the cause of Christ

that saw

who He was,

that He was

the King

of this coming

Kingdom.

So Jesus

is constantly

narrowing

and narrowing

and narrowing

as He speaks.

And so He uses

the veil

and His response

to them,

He quotes Isaiah

Isaiah 6:8–10

chapter 6,

verses 8-10.

Isaiah 6,

classic text.

We all love

to hear about

the calling of Isaiah,

His response

to go.

Verse 8,

And I heard the voice

of the Lord saying,

Whom shall I send?

And who will go

for us?

And then Isaiah responds,

Here am I,

send me.

And then in verse 9,

God says,

Go and say to this people,

Keep on hearing,

but do not understand.

Keep on seeing,

but do not perceive.

Make the heart

of this people dull

and their ears heavy

and blind their eyes,

lest they see

with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand

with their hearts

and turn

and be healed.

Part of Isaiah's

very ministry

was to preach

the coming of the kingdom

of God

to a people

who would not hear it.

It's prophesied right here

that this would be the case.

And in fact,

in the parallel version

of the story we have before us

in Mark chapter 4,

Mark 4 · chapter mention

in verse 14

of chapter 13 of Matthew,

right before Matthew records

his quotation of Isaiah,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6,

it's recorded,

indeed,

in their case,

those who are outside

of this understanding,

the prophecy of Isaiah

is fulfilled.

That it is,

in fact,

fulfilled in this day

of Jesus

that says,

and then he quotes

from Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

This is a prophecy

that people,

some would understand,

and that some would not,

which is why he spoke

in parables,

to veil the truth.

Paul gives us

a little bit of insight

into this

in 1 Corinthians chapter 2.

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

In verse 8,

he writes,

none of the rulers

of this age

understood this.

He's talking about

the secret,

hidden wisdom of God

in verse 7.

None of the rulers

of this age

understood this,

for if they had,

they would not have

crucified the Lord of glory.

If they had understood

who Jesus was,

they wouldn't have

put him to death.

And it was necessary

that he be put to death

so that the remission

of sins might extend

and expand to all

of mankind.

And then he quotes

also from Isaiah

Isaiah 64:4

chapter 64,

verse 4,

but as it is written,

what no eye has seen,

nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man

imagined,

what God has prepared

for those

who love Him.

Paul goes on to write

in verse 10

of chapter 2,

that these are things

that have been revealed

to those who are in Christ

by the Spirit of God.

Verse 11,

for who knows

a person's thoughts

except the Spirit

of that person

which is in him.

So also no one

comprehends the thoughts

of God

except the Spirit

of God.

And so Paul for us

kind of brings

these two ideas together

that this was something

that must happen,

that some would not believe

in order that

the redemptive purposes

of Christ

might be completed

so that we can believe

by the power

of His Spirit.

Now it's interesting

as Jesus is talking

to this group of people,

because it's those

around Him

with the twelve

if you'll notice

in chapter 4,

verse 10.

So not just the apostles

but some others

that were gathered

with Him

who have been given

the secret

of the kingdom

of God.

It's important

that we note

that they didn't

still seem

to quite get it.

There was some

understanding

bearing in their hearts,

but yet,

if you look

in verse 33

of chapter 4,

with many such parables

He spoke the word

to them

as they were able

to hear it.

He did not speak

to them without a parable,

but privately

to His own disciples

He explained everything.

Explanation was necessary

for them.

And look later

in chapter 4,

verse 40 and 41.

After Jesus calms

the storm,

He says to them,

Why are you afraid?

Have you still

no faith?

And they were filled

with great fear

and said to one another,

Who then is this

that even the wind

and the sea

obey Him?

They still

didn't quite grasp

who Jesus was.

The light was coming

to bear in their hearts,

but they still had yet

to entirely wrap

their mind around it.

And let that be

an encouragement

to us this morning

as we are about

to launch into a study

of a number of parables

which can be confounding

at times.

We'll take a break

from that,

go back to some narrative,

and we're going to

pick right back up

into many more parables

in the Gospel of Mark.

And they're difficult

to understand at times.

By the Spirit

and the Scriptures,

we come to understand

what it is they mean

as we have a greater degree

of revelation

than these disciples

would have had.

But let it encourage you

that you don't have

to quite get it all

to have the Spirit of God

working in you

and bringing to bear

the truth.

So he taught him parables

to veil the truth.

But he also taught him

parables to reveal the truth.

Here in chapter 4,

this is not the first account

we see of him speaking

in parables.

In fact,

his response

to the Pharisees,

the scribes

that challenged him

back at the end

of chapter 3

were parables.

This idea of a strong man

being in his house

and to plunder his house.

You must come in

and bind the strong man.

He was speaking of

who he is,

that he is in fact God

and he has the power

to bind Satan

and therefore come

and take from the kingdom

of Satan

those who are his.

It's also not the first time

that parables are used generally.

Jesus isn't the first

to use parables

to teach truth in this way.

Back in 2 Samuel,

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12

in the Old Testament,

God brings David

to conviction

of his sin

with Bathsheba

and Uriah

through the prophet Nathan

through a parable.

Listen to this.

2 Samuel 12

beginning in verse 1.

And the Lord sent Nathan

to David.

He came to him

and said to him,

there were two men

in a certain city,

the one rich

and the other poor.

The rich man

had very many flocks

and herds,

but the poor man

had nothing

but one little ewe lamb

which he had bought.

And he brought it up

and it grew up with him

and with his children.

He used to eat of his morsel

and drink from his cup

and lie in his arms

and it was like a daughter to him.

Now there came a traveler

to the rich man

and he was unwilling

to take one of his own

flock or herd

to prepare for the guest

who had come to him,

but he took the poor man's lamb

and prepared it for the man

who had come to him.

Then David's anger

was greatly kindled

against the man

in the story.

And he said to Nathan,

as the Lord lives,

the man who has done this

deserves to die

and he shall restore

the lamb for full

because he did this thing

and because he had no pity.

Nathan said to David,

you are the man.

This was how God,

by the prophet Nathan

and the enlightening

of the Spirit,

convicted David

of his great sin.

And then we see

so many laments

in the Psalms

and repentance

for what he had done.

So, Jesus spoke in parables.

God had used parables before.

Jesus speaks in parables

both to veil

and to reveal the truth.

And he sets up for us

again another dichotomy,

two groups of people

that everyone in this world

falls into.

You fall into one of these

two categories.

And here it's stated

in verse 11,

to you,

this is one group,

to you has been given

the secret of the kingdom of God.

And another group

are those who are outside.

This morning,

you're in one of those

two places.

Everyone in this earth

is in one of those two places.

Has been given the secret

of the kingdom of God

or is outside.

And so we have to ask

the question,

what then is the secret

of the kingdom of God?

We should know this.

If we want to find

where we are,

categorically speaking,

in one of these two groups,

are we those

who have been given

the secret of the kingdom of God

or those who are outside?

Do we have the key

that unlocks the parables?

Or should they be

confounding to us?

Should we never understand

what is meant

by all of these parables

about the coming kingdom?

The secret

of the kingdom of God

is the person,

Jesus Christ.

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1,

1 Corinthians 1:30

verse 30,

And because of God,

you are in Christ Jesus,

who became to us

wisdom from God,

righteousness,

righteousness,

and sanctification,

and redemption.

So those who have been given

the secret of the kingdom of God

are those who believe

that Jesus is who He says

that He is,

that He is the Christ.

And the others,

those who are outside,

are those who do not.

Turn with me to the parallel version

of this text.

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 13.

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

We see a more expanded version

of the account beginning in verse 10.

Then the disciples came

and said to Him,

Why do you speak to them

in parables?

There's the question.

Why do you speak to them

in parables?

And He answered them,

To you it has been given

to know the secrets

of the kingdom of heaven,

but to them it has not been given.

There's our two categories.

Then verse 12.

For to the one who has,

more will be given,

and he will have an abundance.

But from the one who has not,

even what he has

will be taken away.

This is why I speak to them

in parables.

Because seeing they do not see,

and hearing they do not hear,

nor do they understand.

Now verse 12 is interesting

because in Mark chapter 4,

Mark 4 · chapter mention

it's recorded in a different spot.

In Mark chapter 4,

Mark 4 · chapter mention

it's in verse 25.

As he concludes

the lamp under a basket parable

as it's headed

in probably most of our Bibles.

It's recorded in a different place

and we'll look more

at why that is

in the coming weeks.

But here we see it's added

to this account.

For to the one who has,

more will be given,

and he who will have an abundance.

But from the one who has not,

even what he has

will be taken away.

What is he talking about?

Has what?

What is it that we are to have

in order to receive more?

An abundance of more.

And what is it that someone

doesn't have,

and even what they have

is taken away?

And what I would say to you

is that thing that Jesus

is referring to here

is faith.

For the one who has faith,

the one who believes

that Jesus is the Christ,

will be given more faith,

an abundance of faith,

saving faith

that will persevere to the end

when all the things

that we hope in

will become a reality.

The ability to see

the kingdom of God

coming to bear,

to experience it

to be true

in our own hearts.

But for the one

who does not have faith,

even what he has.

Now, remember who he's

speaking to primarily

in these settings.

These would have been Jews.

Those who had

the promises of God,

who had what is called

now our modern Old Testament.

They had all of this teaching.

They had Moses.

And the prophets

who spoke of the Christ.

And yet, even this,

this understanding

that they have

is taken away.

I can remind you

in Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:8

verse 8, it says,

For by grace you have been saved

through faith.

And that this is not your own doing,

it is the gift of God.

We need the Spirit of God

to work in our hearts

to bring about faith in God.

And these are the people

who believe,

who can understand,

who are given

the secrets

of the kingdom.

Now, the rest of the text

in Matthew chapter 13,

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

we see a longer quotation

of Isaiah chapter 6.

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

Indeed, in their case,

the promise of Isaiah

is fulfilled

that says,

you will indeed hear

but never understand.

You will indeed see

but never perceive.

For this people's heart

has grown dull

and with their ears

they can barely hear

and their eyes

have closed.

Lest they should see

with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn

and I would heal them.

And then verse 16,

but blessed are your eyes

for they see

and your ears

for they hear

for truly I say to you

many prophets

and righteous people

long to see what you see

and did not see it

and to hear what you hear

and did not hear it.

They longed to see

the Christ.

They knew that in some way

the promises of God

would be fulfilled.

They had some hint

of this Messiah

and what he was going

to look like

as they prophesied

about him

but they did not

get to behold him.

They longed to hear

this coming message

of the kingdom of God.

The gospel preached

in its entirety

in the personal work

of Christ

and yet they did

not hear it.

How blessed are we

to be ones

who have received

the secrets

of the kingdom.

We have received Christ.

We have seen

and heard

this great truth.

There are many Jews

today

strict adherents

to

Old Testament

apostate Judaism

that are still longing

and looking

for the Messiah.

And they do so

with an unclear understanding

of who the Messiah is.

I found an article

by a rabbi

I'm sure I should quote

but I forgot to write down

his name

and I lost the article.

And he gave four reasons

why Jesus Christ

is not the Messiah.

It is predicted

in Ezekiel chapter 37

Ezekiel 37 · chapter mention

that he would

build the third temple.

This is yet to happen.

Isaiah chapter 43

Isaiah 43 · chapter mention

that he would gather

all Jews

back to the land

of Israel.

Isaiah chapter 2

Isaiah 2:4

verse 4

that he would usher

in an era

of world peace

and end all hatred,

oppression,

suffering,

and disease.

Zechariah 14.9

that he would spread

universal knowledge

of the God of Israel

which will unite humanity

as one.

And this is the Messiah

that they are waiting for.

They're waiting for

a Messiah to come

that will accomplish this

in the here and now.

And until they can see

that happen

they are not willing

to believe

that Jesus was the Christ.

But yet,

Jesus is in fact

accomplishing

all these things.

And they will finally

and fully

be accomplished.

The kingdom of God

is at hand.

He reigns even now

doing this very work.

But in this way,

in the fulfillment

of these prophecies,

Jesus has veiled truth

and revealed truth.

Just think of the way

that Jesus came

into this world.

He fulfilled prophecy

in the way He came.

But He came not

as the king they expected.

As they focused in

on these particular

prophecies of the Messiah.

Not as the one

who would ride in

on a horse,

a valiant steed

that would be like Saul,

a head taller

than everyone else

and would come

and conquer Rome

and restore things.

But He came instead

as a humble baby.

Veiled.

Born to a humble,

young,

teenage girl

in a stable,

in a very obscure

part of the world.

This Jesus

that is said

to be from Nazareth

and we have to qualify

that it's Nazareth

of Galilee

because no one knew

where Nazareth was.

Talk about the county

that it was located in

so you could get

where it was

on a map.

He came in obscure,

humble,

the son of a carpenter

and He served the world

in humility.

They missed this

because Jesus

veiled that truth

in order to reveal

that truth

to some of us

lowly,

lowly people.

Last night I was playing

with the boys

on the floor

and they got a bunch

of Hot Wheels

monster trucks

for Christmas

which is a very cool thing

that Hot Wheels

has done

for boys everywhere.

And Judah,

there's eight of them

and Judah had carefully

lined them up,

neat little rows

all facing the same direction

and didn't want

that game messed with.

He had his little trucks

lined up

and he was just laying

on the floor like this

looking at them.

And so I was laying

on the floor with him

and we were talking

about their color

and counting them

trying to redeem

whatever the game was

for some future knowledge

and I counted them

to eight

and Caveman said,

he was sitting

cross-legged next to us

and said,

no daddy,

there are seven.

I said,

Caveman,

your dad's a good counter,

there are eight.

And he said,

no,

there are seven.

And I went,

okay,

watch.

And I counted them again.

I put my finger

on each one,

counted them,

eight.

Here's the evidence,

look,

one,

two,

three,

four,

five,

six,

seven,

eight.

And he kind of gave me

this look when I got to eight

like,

I think he's got me.

But he refused to believe

that there were eight.

I took his finger,

made him,

I held his finger

and I touched each one

to convince him

that there were eight

and he got sad

that he was wrong

that there were eight

and not seven.

And so what he wanted to do

was take one away

so there would be seven

in the pile.

And so I had to distract Judah

so he wouldn't get mad

that we messed up his line of trucks

and took one.

So we had seven left

in the pile.

And is this not,

this made me think,

is this not

what the world does

with Jesus Christ?

There's so much evidence

on the table.

It would seem

that we should

by human terms

be able to convince somebody

that Jesus is the Christ.

Particularly the Jews.

Right?

Those who were actually

waiting for the Messiah

just want to show them

the Scriptures

and point to the One,

to Jesus Christ,

to magnify Him

and that they would get that.

But they can't

until the Spirit works

a work in their life.

They can't.

It's impossible.

These are things

that are revealed to us

by the Spirit.

Now I know that sometimes

that causes a little bit

of an anxiety

because we really,

really, really want to believe

that our God is this

great, big, benevolent God

and loves the world.

And you know what?

He does.

He does.

The fact that He has redeemed

even one of us

is a great expression

of His love.

Not to mention

untold millions.

Millions.

Billions.

I don't know.

An unmeasurable number.

A multitude,

the Scriptures say,

will be in heaven

praising our God.

Right?

None of us

deserve this.

When you begin to feel

in some way

that as God

is calling people

to Himself,

that He's being unfair,

that it's not right,

how could a loving God

exclude people

from the kingdom?

How could He veil truth

to some

and reveal it to others?

This makes no sense to me.

Stop making

so much

of man.

We are a created thing.

Right?

Humble yourself

under the Creator

who is working out

His redemptive purposes

in this way.

Who is expressing

His very being to us

in this manner.

What should this kind

of truth do for us?

Those of us

who are part of this,

who have been given

the secret

of the kingdom of God,

it should cause us

to praise Him.

Because we did

nothing of our own

to know this thing.

Right?

I cannot boast

in any way

that I have deciphered

magically the parables.

Right?

We say to you,

I have found the key.

I have deciphered it.

I know now

what the kingdom of God

is all about.

I can't.

It has been revealed to me

by the Spirit of God.

I was dead.

I was cut off

because of my sinfulness.

God made me alive

together with Him.

Right?

This should be the joy

of our hearts.

That He has accomplished

this for us.

And I will tell you

that there are many

harsh reactions

to the doctrines

that we teach,

but there are harsh reactions

to things that should not

be a reality.

That those of us

who believe that God

is sovereign in all things,

that calls those

whom He intends to call

and doesn't those

whom He doesn't,

would make us cold

and callous

to the Gospel.

This should not be true

of us.

This truth

is the great motivation

to share your faith.

That God is working

in people's lives.

That He is going into them

and changing their hearts.

No amount of logic.

I consider myself

a fairly logical person.

No degree of logic

on my part

can convince somebody

to come to Christ.

But the Spirit

can do it

with the simple words

of a fool.

That is an incredible

reality.

This should be true of us.

Let me show you

this context.

Let me just broaden

your eyes

and your mind

a little bit.

We see this insertion

in Mark 4.

Talking about

those who have been

given the secret

of the kingdom

were found in one

of these two categories.

We believe that Jesus

is the Christ

or we do not.

But what is He saying

in this context here

at the beginning

of chapter 4?

There should be

some outworking

of our faith.

We can't just be

counted in the crowd

that follows Jesus around.

But that we must

actually be devoted

to Him.

There must be

some degree

of sacrifice

and pursuit

of who He is.

Let me just show you.

He talks about

the parable

of the sower.

The good soil.

Verse 8.

The good soil

produced grain

growing up

and increasing

and yielding

thirtyfold

and sixtyfold

and a hundredfold.

Later in His explanation

of that

in verse 20

He uses the term

fruit.

This good soil

bears

fruit.

He talks about

lamps

not being intended

to be hidden

but to shine.

He's speaking

in the negative

but in the positive.

Lamps shine.

Lamps give

light.

I think some of our

lamps are turned down

so low

that they barely

flicker.

There's a little flame

which gives little

to no light

in this world

but lamps

are meant

to light

a room.

We see the parable

of the seed growing.

It does in fact

sprout

and grow.

And the parable

of the mustard seed

grows up

and becomes

larger

than all

the garden plants.

You see

that there must

be some

outworking

of our faith

and here is

what we see

Jesus teaching

to us

in the parables

that we're going

to cover

in the coming

weeks.

You want to know

which category

you lie in

as one who's been

given the secrets

of the kingdom

of God?

One who has

actually recognized

believed in your

heart that Jesus

is the Christ?

There will be

evidence in your

life of that

reality.

You will

knowing

that Jesus

brought this

truth to bear

in you

desire

to share

that truth

and see it

come to bear

in others.

We as a church

must be

theological.

We are really

wasting our time

if we're not.

If we don't

come together

and root

through

and parse

out

and figure out

all of the

deep things

of God

that he has

to say to us

in our scriptures

why are we

getting together?

But we also

must be

missional.

This should be

a great motivation

to us getting

out and going

and sharing

and moving

and healing.

Bringing redemption

to this world

as we come to

better understand

our own redemption.

These two things

must carry

together.

If Christ Family

Church errs

in 2013

we err

to being theological.

We err

to being theological.

And that does not

mean that we should

stop being theological.

and start being

more missional.

That just means

that we should

continue to be theological.

Find better ways

to be theological.

Press deeper

into the things

of God

so that we'll

be more missional.

So that's my

challenge to you

this morning.

Which category

do you lie in?

If you don't

think that you've

ever come

to really understand

that Jesus

is the Christ

that can change

this morning.

Ask that God

would do a work

in your heart.

Respond in faith

to the gospel

call to repent

and believe.

If you find

yourself in this

category

I can guarantee

that all of us

need to work

out our faith

in a greater degree

as we drag

along the baggage

of the sickness

of sin.

We're all being

made more

perfect.

We're all being

moved in a

further Christward

direction.

I've been accused

of being an idealist

and I think that

anybody who's a Christian

who's not an idealist

is pitiful.

It's shameful.

We're supposed

to be like Christ

who is ideal.

Keep pressing

to that high goal

of being like

Him

in 2014.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.