Christianity Explored study which will be happening in the new year which is going to be looking at Mark's Gospel after.
Mark 4 verse 1
Again Jesus began to teach by the lake.
The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake.
While all the people were along the shore at the water's edge.
He taught them many things by parables and in his teaching said,
Listen, a farmer went out to sow his seed.
As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil.
It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow.
But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root.
Other seeds fell among the thorns which grew up and choked the plants so that they did not bear grain.
Still other seeds fell on good soil.
It came up, grew and produced a crop multiplying 30, 60 or even 100 times.
Then Jesus said,
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
When he was alone, the twelve and others around him asked him about the parables.
He told them,
The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.
But those on the outside, everything is said in parables.
Then Jesus said to them,
Don't you understand this parable?
How then will you understand any parable?
The farmer sows the word.
Some people are like seeds among the path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Others, like the seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
But since they have no root, they only last a short time.
When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Still others, like seeds sown among thorns, hear the word.
But the worries of this life, the seedfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word,
making it unfruitful.
Others, like the seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accepting it,
and produce a crop thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.
Verse 21.
He said to them,
Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?
Instead, don't you put it onto a stand.
For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed,
and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.
Consider carefully what you hear, he continued.
With the measure you use it, it will be measured to you.
And even more.
Whoever has will be given more.
Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
He also said,
This is what the kingdom of God is like.
A man scatters seed on the ground.
Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up,
the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.
All by itself does the soil produce of corn.
First the stalk, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it,
because the harvest has come.
Again he said to them,
What shall we say the kingdom of God is like?
Or what parable shall we use to describe it?
It is like a mustard seed,
which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground.
Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants,
with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.
With many similar parables, Jesus spoke the word to them
as much as they could understand.
He did not say anything to them without using a parable.
But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Thank you.
Well, let's have our Bibles open.
Take notes if you wish.
Please talk afterwards if you have any questions.
Let's pray together as we hear God's word.
Father, we come to your word.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.
It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
judging the thoughts and attitudes of our heart.
Father, we come to your word.
And we ask that it would speak into our lives.
Speak to the very core of our being.
Showing us who we are.
Telling us what you are like.
And helping us to see the kind of response that we should have.
Amen.
We pray for your Holy Spirit in all of this.
For it is his power, working through your word,
that brings life to us.
And changes us.
So please do your work amongst us.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Listen.
That's how Jesus starts his first parable in verse 3 of chapter 4.
Listen.
And then look how he finishes in verse 9.
Then Jesus said to them,
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
And if we still haven't got the point,
verse 23,
if anyone has ears to hear,
let them hear.
Consider carefully what you hear.
But why on earth should we be listening to the words of Jesus?
Of all the other voices wanting our attention and claiming that we should listen to them,
why should we hear what Jesus has to say?
What makes his words any more important than, say, the likes of David Norris,
Martin McGinnis, or Dana, or any other of the presidential candidates?
Why should we listen to Jesus?
Why are we even here on a Sunday morning with our Bibles open?
Why aren't we just at home with the telly on or listening to the radio or talking to other people?
Are their words not just as important?
Why is Jesus saying, listen?
Well, let me try and explain.
Mark's Gospel, as we've been looking at together over these weeks,
introduces us to a world of disorder and a world of darkness.
The first, or the opening scenes of Mark's Gospel,
show us that it is a world that is full of sickness and disease.
The people are broken and they're hurt.
The weak and the poor are marginalised and ostracised.
They're pushed out of society.
There's a disorder to life and to the world.
But not only that, there's something sinister as well.
Evil spirits are also active.
People are possessed by demons.
There is a darkness all around.
And it's into this world of disorder and darkness that Jesus comes.
We're introduced to him in this way.
But rather than run away from this world,
Jesus enters into it.
He deliberately goes out of his way to come into contact with this disorder and darkness.
And he begins to meet these people.
And he begins to talk to these people.
He speaks into the darkness.
Look back at chapter 1, verse 25.
One of the first accounts that were given here,
Jesus is that it's a Sunday morning and he's got up to teach
and he has his Bible open and he's speaking away.
And this evil spirit comes from nowhere and disrupts the whole proceedings.
And look what Jesus says in verse 25 of chapter 1.
Be quiet, said Jesus sternly.
Come out of him.
The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
With a simple word, he speaks into the darkness.
It obeys him and the darkness is dispelled.
Later we see that Jesus also speaks into the disorder.
He meets a man with leprosy.
A man with leprosy would have been pushed out to the outside, ostracized.
And he comes to Jesus and he says,
verse 41, Jesus says,
Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and he touched the man.
I am willing, he said, be clean.
Immediately, the leprosy left him and he was cured.
And as we read on, he gets back into society.
With a simple word, Jesus speaks into the disorder
and it obeys and order is returned to this man's life.
Jesus is being introduced to us in these early chapters
as God's King who has supreme power and ultimate authority.
And the way that power and authority is being expressed
is through his simple words as he begins to talk to people.
Just like we're talking now.
Words like that spoken into people's lives
and everything has changed.
So when we get back to Mark 4,
when Jesus says,
Listen, if you have ears to hear,
now is a good time to start using them.
This is, chapter 4 is one of the first times
we get an extended look at what Jesus has to say,
one of his first big teaching sessions.
And I don't think it's a mistake
that his first big teaching session
is to tell us about the importance of his word,
the centrality of his word.
Verse 3 says,
Listen, chapter 4, verse 3.
Listen, a farmer went out to sow his seed.
Later we're told what that means in verse 14.
Jesus says it's the farmer who sows the word.
The seed is the word.
Well, what's the word?
Well, the word is the message
that Jesus preached and taught.
It's the gospel.
It's the good news.
And it summarized for us back in chapter 1, verse 15.
The time has come, Jesus said.
The kingdom of God is near.
The time for that restoration,
for things to be put right,
for lives to be put back in order.
The time is now here.
And the way for that to happen,
he says, is to repent
and to believe the good news.
This is the message.
This is the word that Jesus taught.
And speaking this word becomes central to Jesus' mission.
In chapter 1, verse 38,
we read Jesus replied,
they're all wanting Jesus for something.
And he says,
let us go somewhere else to the nearby villages
so that I can preach there also.
that is why I've come.
His teaching this word is central.
In fact,
the word and teaching the word
becomes central to the disciples' mission.
Chapter 3, verse 14.
We're told there that he appointed the twelve.
He designated them apostles.
That he might be with them
and that he might send them out
to preach this word.
Because this word has power.
It changes lives.
And he says,
I want you to go with the same message
and do that same work.
And so as we read through this story of chapter 4,
we discover why Jesus' word must be kept central.
Why it's so primary.
Why there's such a focus on it.
Look at verse 20 of chapter 4.
Others like seed sown on good soil
hear the word
and accept the word.
He's telling us that
people enter into the kingdom,
people get restored and get renewed
as they hear the word
and accept the word.
But not only that,
look at the rest of verse 20.
It says they produce a crop
30, 60 or even 100 times what was sown.
It begins to multiply.
The kingdom grows significantly
as this word begins to be planted
and sown in people's lives
in all different places.
So if we take the word out of this,
well, we have an empty kingdom.
Nobody can get into the kingdom without the word.
You take the word out,
we've got an empty kingdom.
And we've got a dead kingdom
because it can't grow.
You remove the gospel,
you remove the good news,
and we're left with nothing.
Now if the word was central
to Jesus' mission,
the God-man coming to the world,
if this is central to him,
then I think it's got to be central
to us and to our church.
And I think people can get confused here.
And I just want to kind of take a little detour,
a little side here,
and just explain some things.
We get confused about the words of Jesus
and the deeds of Jesus.
In fact, some people think that,
well, they achieved the same result.
Some people speak about Jesus
and that gets them into the kingdom.
Other people kind of do good things
and that gets them into the kingdom.
But that's not the way.
Three things here, very simply.
Word and deed are different.
They are distinct.
The deed primarily addresses
our physical needs.
We do these one to another.
While the word addresses
our spiritual helplessness.
It comes from outside to us.
Physical deeds are done one to another.
The word comes from outside to us
in our helplessness.
So they're different.
They're distinct.
But while they're distinct,
they're also inseparable.
Mark has shown us all the way
through the first few chapters
that Jesus didn't separate them.
So neither should we.
He had compassion on people.
He spent time with people.
But he also spoke to the people.
He reached out to touch the people.
But he also taught the people.
He held them together.
So it wasn't saying
you can only do one
and you can't do the other.
No, they were held together.
However, the word must remain central.
Good deeds are never going to get people
into the kingdom.
And good deeds are never going to make
his kingdom grow big.
God's word is what enables
the people to enter
and God's word is what's going to build it.
So it's not a case of either or,
but both and.
We've got to keep them together.
But within that,
the diagram is trying to show
is that the word must remain central.
The gospel,
the good news of Jesus.
It's got to be central.
And that's the whole big point,
if you like,
of this parable.
Being word-centered
recognizes that the word,
the good news about Jesus
is the means by which people enter
and it's the way in which
the kingdom is going to grow.
It's the way this church
is going to grow.
But being word-centered
also means that this is a message
that has to be told.
It has to be proclaimed.
It's a message of good news.
It's going to be good
for people's lives.
It's going to change them
and transform them.
And the world is in desperate need
and it is this message
that Jesus brings into this world
that's going to change things.
So the word must remain central
to our lives
and to our work.
So that's the first thing.
And as we go through this story,
this word is being spoken
to a huge crowd of people
who've gathered around Jesus,
who's sitting on a boat
on the edge of a lake,
speaking to these crowds of people.
And as we read through it,
it seems like there's
four different ways to respond.
I think we all know the story
and it seems like there's
four different ways.
But the reality is
there's only two ways to respond
to the words of Jesus.
Look at verse 15.
Let's read these through.
Some people, he said,
are like seeds sown along the path
where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear it,
Satan comes along
with his temptation
and he takes the word
that was sown in them.
Then there's others
like seeds sown on rocky places.
They hear the word
and they get very excited by it
and they come along for a while
and they're reading it for a while.
But since they don't have any root,
it only lasts a short time.
And when trouble or persecution comes
because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
And then there's others
where the seed is sown
like among thorns
and they hear the word.
And they're grabbed by it.
It's something they haven't heard before.
But then there's the worries of life,
getting up for work
and having to pay the bills
and the deceitfulness of wealth
and wanting a little bit more
than we have
and the desires for other things,
wanting more and more stuff.
And it begins to replace the word
and it begins to choke
and it makes it unfruitful.
So do you see there
that these first three groups,
they all hear the word
but the result is exactly the same.
They all end up rejecting the word.
The word.
Now there may be different reasons.
Maybe on the one hand
it's Satan and his temptation.
Maybe it's troubles in life.
Maybe it's the desires of our heart.
But the end result is the same.
It's rejection.
But the last group in verse 20,
they also hear the word
and they accept the word.
Others like seed sown on good soil
hear the word
and accept it.
Now the big question
through all of this is
if all hear the word,
this big huge crowd
and we're all kind of
in that crowd too now,
if we're all hearing the word,
why do some reject the word
and some accept it?
Why is that?
That's a big question, isn't it?
Why are some of them going with it
and some of them not going with it?
Because they've all heard it.
Well, I think it all depends
on how well we listen.
How we hear the word is critical.
And hearing Jesus well
requires three things from us.
Helpless, dependent, and longing.
The first is helpless.
Those who hear the word
see their own helplessness.
Look at 4 verse 10.
When he was alone,
the twelve and the others around him
asked him about the parables.
Now that's interesting, isn't it?
Because they've all heard it,
but nobody has understood
what Jesus has first said.
He talked about a farmer
sowing the seed.
Hello?
What was that about?
Most of them have gone away
stubbornly trying to figure it out
for themselves.
They've heard them,
but now they've all gone.
A few, however,
have stayed behind
because they don't know
what it means.
And so they've come to Jesus.
And look what Jesus says
to those who have come to him.
Verse 11.
He told them,
the secret of the kingdom of God
has been given to you.
Because you see your own helplessness
and an inability for you
to figure it all out,
you are going to be given understanding.
Understanding of the kingdom,
of who Jesus is
and why he's come
and why we need him,
in some sense,
is secret.
It's a mystery.
We could never really figure it out.
And we're never going to really understand
what it's all about
unless it's revealed to us,
unless somebody gives us insight into it.
Look what it says in verse 11.
The secret of the kingdom of God
has been given to you.
This revelation,
it's a gift from God to us.
It's not something
that we can figure out by ourselves,
by our own intelligence.
So it demands
that we come to Jesus
helpless.
That we don't know.
We need to put up our hands
and say,
I'm sorry,
I don't know what that means
instead of trying to pretend we do.
In fact,
if we don't come helpless
to God's word,
it has the opposite effect.
Look at the rest of verse 11.
But to those on the outside,
those are the ones
who've now drifted away.
They've heard it,
but they don't come back
wanting to know more.
Those on the outside,
everything is said in parables
so that they may be ever seeing,
but never perceiving.
Ever hearing,
but never understanding.
Otherwise,
they might turn
and be forgiven.
Now those are difficult verses,
aren't they?
It seems like
Jesus doesn't want
people to understand.
It's as if he's saying,
I'm going to say something
so that people can't understand it.
It's almost like
he's deliberately hiding
the truth from them.
Well,
in some ways,
he is.
You see,
God's word
has this double effect.
On the one hand,
it opens people's minds,
and then on the other hand,
it closes people's minds.
Everybody can hear,
and to one group of people,
it will open their minds.
To another group,
it will close their minds.
To those who are open,
and who see their need of help,
they are given understanding.
But to those who are stubborn,
and don't see their need of help,
and don't see what's the point
in all of this,
their understanding
is taken away from them.
So people who hear well
will come helpless.
Second,
those who hear the word
are going to be dependent on Jesus.
Look at verse 21.
He said to them,
Do you bring in a lamp
to put it under a bowl or a bed?
Instead,
don't you put it up on a stand,
high up in the room?
Because the purpose
of a lamp or a light
in any situation
is to illuminate it,
to enable you to see
what's going on.
And Jesus is saying,
I am that light.
I have come to help you see.
I've come to reveal
what is hidden.
Verse 22.
For whatever is hidden
is meant to be disclosed.
Whatever is concealed
is meant to be brought out
into the open.
And if anybody has ears to hear,
let them hear.
So can you hear
what I am saying?
Are you listening to me?
Says Jesus.
I not only speak words to you,
but I am the one
who gives you understanding
of those words.
Without me,
you're always going to be
in the dark.
Without me,
you'll never know
the way into the kingdom.
You'll never be able
to figure things out.
Trusting in your own intellect
or reason
is never going to work.
Relying on the church
and their interpretation.
That's not going to work.
You must depend on me
to reveal the truth
of my word to you.
And that's the difference
between these two groups
of people.
The few that come back
to them are helpless.
They're saying,
we don't know.
Tell us.
But they come dependent
because they know
that Jesus is the only one
who's going to give them insight.
And third,
those who hear the word
come longing for more.
Verse 24.
Consider carefully
what you hear,
he continued.
With the measure you use it,
it will be measured to you
and even more.
Now,
our attitude
to Jesus' word
becomes the measure
by which Jesus
will respond to us.
So let's make this
all very real
and very practical
right now.
We're reading
Jesus' word,
we're studying it
and we're thinking about it
and we're all hearing it.
Our attitude
to it right now
will be the measure
by which Jesus responds
to each one of us
right now.
In other words,
if we come longing
for more,
if we come with an attitude
that wants to be filled,
then he is going to fill us.
He's going to respond
with a good measure.
But if we come content
and just think,
ah,
Jesus' word,
heard this story,
been there,
done that,
will receive very little.
Verse 25,
whoever has
will be given more.
Whoever does not have,
even what they have
will be taken from him.
Can you see
what's going on here?
Those who are eager
in their desire
to understand,
they'll be given
more understanding.
If we come with an attitude
that is longing
and wanting for more
of Jesus
and understanding
more of him,
God is going to respond
generously
and he's going to
fill us up
and he's going to enable us
to grasp the things
about his kingdom.
He's going to be generous.
If we come empty
and say,
please fill me,
he'll fill you.
But the opposite
is also true
and this is why
it's so critical
that we get this.
if our attitude
is one of contentment
and one of
not really into it,
then what little
understanding
we may have
is going to be
taken from us.
God's word
has a double effect.
It not only
brings people
to salvation
and opens their minds,
but it closes
people's minds.
So people
who hear
well
come longing
for more.
And this is
how we should listen.
This is how we should
hear
Jesus' words.
Jesus is God's
appointed king
who has come
to speak
into the disorder
and the darkness
of our lives.
He has something
to say to us.
But we're never
going to grasp it.
We're never going
to get it
unless we become
helpless,
dependent
and longing.
The power
of Jesus' word
then.
While hearing
is a good thing
and it's a right
thing,
Jesus wants us
to know
that at the end
of the day
it's his word
that's going
to bring about
the change.
The reason
why we listen
is because
Jesus' word
is active
and powerful.
When it is heard
it begins
to work
in our lives
in amazing ways.
First,
the word
works
supernaturally.
Look at verse 26.
He has two little
stories
that follow this.
The word
works supernaturally
in our lives.
Verse 26.
He also said
this is what
the kingdom
of God
is like.
A man
scatters seed
on the ground.
It's still
the same idea
of the seed
being the word.
Night and day
whether he sleeps
or gets up
the seed
sprouts and grows
though he does
not know how
and all by itself
the soil
produces corn
first the stalk
then the ear
then the full grain
in the ear.
As soon as
the grain
is ripe
he puts
a sickle
to it
because the
harvest
has come.
Hearing Jesus'
word
receiving it
and accepting it
is just like
planting a little
seed in the ground.
By a supernatural
power
outside of ourselves
it begins to
grow and sprout
and brings about
new life.
Just as a farmer
can't make a seed
grow
just as a gardener
can't make a seed
grow
he doesn't even
know how it
happens
so we can't
bring about
this new life
for ourselves.
The word
he's saying
has a supernatural
power
and if we plant
that seed
into our lives
if we plant
the word of God
into our lives
we can be confident
that it's going
to grow
and it's going
to bring about
a change.
We can't do it
but the gospel
is supernatural
and unless we
try and unless
we plant it in
it's not going
to grow and work.
It's supernatural
it's a powerful
thing.
But second
he says
the word works
surprisingly
verse 30
again he said
what shall we say
the kingdom of God
is like
or what parable
shall we use
to describe it?
It is like
a mustard seed
it's the same idea
the seed is the word
which is the smallest
seed you plant
in the ground
yet when planted
it grows
and becomes
the largest
of all garden plants
with such big branches
that the birds
of the air
can perch
in its shade.
And he's reminding
us here
that his word
works
with surprising
results.
Not only are we
encouraged to plant
the gospel seeds
in our own lives
we are to begin
to plant
these seeds
into other
people's lives
just as a tiny
mustard seed
grows
into a huge
big tree
big enough
for birds
to rest
so Jesus'
word
will have
the same
impact
within us
and within
our community.
Excuse me.
so the good news
is so powerful
that when we
begin to plant
it in our lives
it will bring
about a supernatural
work
and when we
begin to plant
it in others
it will cause
that growth
to happen.
God
will have
to plant
and let me
just say a couple
of things
to apply all
of this through
for us.
His word is
central
it's primary
we've got to
listen to it
in a certain
way
and if we
do
it will bring
about a
supernatural
and surprising
work.
So if you're
a parent here
this morning
and you've got
little children
their lives
are being
bombarded
by all
kinds of
words
every day
from television
from school
from friends
words
are piling
in.
The greatest
words
that you
can ever
speak to
them
is the
words of
Jesus.
Nobody else
is going
to tell
them.
That is
your prime
responsibility
as a
parent.
I'm a
parent.
Johnny
read the
Bible with
your children.
Talk to
them about
it.
Teach them
what it is
to come
to God's
word
helpless
dependent
and longing.
Every one
of us
as parents
take your
time.
Read with
each other
all of us
together
and I know
this is what
some of you
do.
Some of you
meet up
during the
week
one to
one.
You
take
time
out
in the
week
and you
begin
to read
the
Bible
and as
you
do
see the
confidence
in his
word
because
it's
so
powerful
it will
change
you
and it
will bring
about a
growth
in your
life
and a
growth
within
the
church.
The
most
important
thing
for us
to do
is to
do
that.
And I
think if
we begin
to do
these
things
we will
be so
excited
so enthused
we will
begin to
see the
change
in our
own
lives
that the
words of
Jesus will
become so
natural, so
beautiful, so
wonderful that
we will begin to
talk those
words to
other people as
well.
But if we want
other people to
hear those
words we've
got to start
hearing them
for ourselves
first.
Jesus' word
must be a
priority.
Keep it
central.
Listen to
it well
and have
confidence
in its
amazing
power
to change
lives
and to
grow big.
Let's
pray.
Amen.
Our Father, we
recognize that
there are many
things that will
come in to
try and
steal away
the words.
Satan is
there ready
to take that
seed and
the worries
of life,
the things that
are happening
this week are
ready to come
in and bombard
our minds
and take away
what is sown.
and struggles
and pressures.
So we pray
that by the
power of your
Holy Spirit
allow that
word,
allow that
seed to
settle in
our lives.
May we
hear it.
May we
accept it.
God, may it
produce in us
amazing results
in our own
lives.
May it
produce amazing
results in this
church and in
this community.
May God do
amazing things
through his
word, we pray
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you.