:: By Andrew Moore
1. What’s going on???
He was a leading evangelical minister. – Spoke at Katoomba men’s convention… written a number of Christian books- a commentary on the gospel of Matthew, in the Bible Speaks Today series. – I haven’t heard him preach, but someone I know has, and said he gave the clearest exposition of the cross that he’d ever heard.
A super-Christian!!!!.
And then one day, he issued a statement that he was resigning as a minister. – He left his wife. – And I don’t think he’s a Christian anymore.
(pause)
Churches are exciting places.
Great joys…
Tremendous highs….
But sometimes you wonder what’s going on???
Someone who was a Christian. An evangelical Christian…. (they’re the good guys- they believe the Bible/ believe that Jesus died to forgive us from our sins/ believe in the resurrection of the dead….and preached it!)… now, has given it all up.
-> what on earth went wrong?????
(pause)
In chapter 4 there 4 parables from Jesus….
And they’re spoken to a bunch of people who are intensely interested by Jesus, many of them trying to work out who he is.
(pause)
2. (The Parable of all parables)
(read v1 to v 3a-“listen”).
A repeated command throughout this chapter is “listen”!
Let’s read it…
Read vv 4- 9.
So one action- a sower sowing seed.
With four types of ground. – the path – the rocky ground – the ground where the thorns are – the good soil.
Makes sense?
Read v 9.
(pause)
3. (The purpose of parables)
Jesus doesn’t tell the crowd any more.
Full stop!!!
Mark says in verse 10-11 (read).
So he wants them to hear…he’s not a totally closed door.
But there is a subtlety.
He entices….almost teases, definitely fascinates the crowd.
-> If you were a newcomer, you’d get the idea, that if you are going to get anywhere with Jesus, it’s going to take serious, persistent and perceptive listening.
I don’t know if you ever thought about why Jesus spoke in parables???
(pause)
Jesus gives the reason for speaking parables, (read v 12)….
Sounds odd doesn’t it, given chapter 1:14 (read)…. That’s the message, yet he says here – I’m not going to tell you the message (?!?)
In Isaiah chapter 6, which is what Jesus quotes in verse12, God commissioned Isaiah to preach to Israel,… and it was a message that the people weren’t to understand.
See Israel had rejected God. And they had repeatedly rejected him…. They had been given numerous opportunities to repent, but they didn’t and finally God said- “that’s it!”.
And God says to Isaiah… “Go… read v 12 of Mark 4.”
And that’s what happened: Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar, in 597 BC, came down to Israel and destroyed the temple and took hundreds of thousands of people into exile.
It was a message of judgement.
A message which confirmed them in their unbelief.
-> So how does this relate to Jesus?
… now is the time for judgement.
That’s what he’s saying isn’t it?
It adds a new twist to the gospel story.
Jesus is saying- “repent and believe, but I’m not going to tell you how to repent and believe!; cos judgement is coming!!!”
They SHOULD actually understand.
Their failure to understand confirms their guilt… if they had FAITH, the sort of faith that Jesus is looking for, they would understand!!!
Even those on the inside don’t have it, which is a real problem for Jesus.
There is a blindness that is WITHIN THEM, that is blocking their understanding.
(I remember being at uni and trying to understand the pathways in the brain.
I’d been in the lecture and in the tutorials, but I just couldn’t get it… the blockage was in my brain….)
-> read v 13.
The parables hide and conceal.
But if you had faith, you’d understand them!!!…
(pause)
4. (The parable revealed)
Jesus says this to those on the inside- they are given the secret of the kingdom of God.
And to those on the inside HE ALSO EXPLAINS the meaning of the parable.
-> this is what he says…..
Read v 14-15.
The parable is a metaphor about JESUS.
Jesus is DESCRIBING here his ministry.
He is the sower, and the word is the gospel, and the soils are PEOPLE.
-> And so everything that Jesus is doing is wrapped up in this parable.
It’s a very important parable, and one, they should get, for Jesus is right before their eyes.
Well Jesus says there are 4 groups…
And to this first group… – There is no impact. – There may be the minutest of interest, but then there is nothing…
- Satan takes it away.
Read v 16- 17.
This is another group:
Someone who is keen.
Someone who hears the gospel, and is SO excited, that often Christians around them are excited.
They sign up for every Bible Study group. They go to KYC, MKC, OKC…PTC….MTC…
“they endure for a while“…!!!!
But suffering or persecution comes, and “immediately they fall away”.
It might be disappointment from family.
It might be jeers from workmates- both of which burrow deep and eat away at the roots of someone’s faith…
(pause)
Read v 18- 19.
This is close to home isn’t it?
The “cares of the world”- they are good, wholesome, positive things, of which we desire, and which in themselves there is nothing wrong to desire…
Relationships. I have seen people fall away from Christianity, stop coming to church,… because of a girlfriend or boyfriend.
They are so desperate to get married, they so desperately want it to work,… one might not be a Christian, or is a weaker Christian…. And they just fall away.
A house…a car.
A job.
Even our children…
There in each of those is the potential to choke the plant.
There’s a tree near in the backyard of the rectory, and a vine that has reached about 30cm from the fence to the tree, grown up the tree and is choking it.
That’s exactly what can happen to our Christian life.
The tree looks okay at the moment…
Nothing wrong with Poison Ivy…. And I’ve seen lots of nice fences with poison Ivy.
But on a tree and too much… and it chokes it. It sucks the nutrients, and kills the plant, for all the time the good plant is trying to sustain the life of the vine.
This is what the cares of the world can do.
(pause)
The deceitfulness of riches…
How does wealth deceive?
It’s obvious isn’t it?
-> with wealth comes a sense of power…and it’s deceitful because we are not powerful.
And there is a satisfaction that comes with riches too, but riches never really satisfy.
It’s an addiction, that needs to keep being fed, but… we feed it.
We buy the new fridge,… and then we want the freezer to match- … we buy the freezer and then we want the microwave.
Think about it?… how many choices of fridges can we get??? At one shop!!…and all it does is keep our food cold.
We compare with each other.
See-> We all say money can’t buy happiness… but we live as though it does!
And very soon it becomes what we live for.
(pause)
Last, but not least!….
Read v 20.
The good soil takes the seed and the seed grows.
There is still the winters and the droughts.
The hail and frost.
But there are roots that go down deep into the soil.
And the plant lasts… and grows and bears fruit.
That fruit is repentance.
It’s the fruit of the Spirit… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, genteleness, self control.
It’s the joy that comes with being from being born again.
And it’s not superficial.
It’s not charismatic.
It comes through ups and downs, the highs and lows…it’s the inner beauty that (I used to say,… you know those old people who are Christian…. I don’t have to say it now… Cos I have met people who are so laden with fruit… juicy sweet fruit!… and that is God testimony to his inward life-giving work).
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
(pause)
Well, there is the parable revealed.
And somewhere in this big picture, is you and me!.
Time will tell if that fruit comes and multiplies…but that will be the proof of our faith.
Time will tell for the disciples.
For not all of them will be in the kingdom, even though they are “on the inside”. For Judas is there, and he betrayed Jesus.
(pause)
Jesus keeps this secret with his disciples.
There have been times already, when Jesus has told people to be quiet.
He told the leper to tell no-one of what he’d saw.
In chapter 1:34, Mark says that Jesus would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Also in chapter 3:11-12 (read).
But for those on the inside (and I hope you’re feeling pretty special- for automatically by reading this, you’re on the inside now!)…for those on the inside, they are getting the picture.
(pause)
Now there will come a time when what is hidden will be made known.
Where Jesus will speak TO EVERYONE in not just parables…
But in the meantime…. they only get parables->
There will come a time though… It’s the nature of the gospel.
It’s intrinsic to Jesus and his Word that it will be made known….
Read v 21- 22.
So there will come a time- and it will be after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Well, what are we to do??
We all want to be “good soil“… but how?
(pause)
a. Pay attention.
Read vv 23-24a. There it is again.
Keep listening…. Following Jesus will mean a whole life of LISTENING TO JESUS.
Here’s some ideas- – go to bed early Saturday night. – read the passage before you come. – PRAY that you will LISTEN to God, and not be distracted by anyone or anything.
-> For ears to hear, means not in one ear and out the other ear!.
And that is hard work.
(sometimes, I know… you find the Bible boring, difficult… You find the sermon boring and difficult.
I could preach a sermon 5 minutes long, fill it with jokes, … and you wouldn’t have to listen much at all!!!..
But it wouldn’t produce FAITH… not ‘storm-weathering’ faith that lasts the distance…
(pause)
And there is a great incentive for those who hear…
Read vv 24b-25
The one on the inside will get more…. And those on the outside (who’ve heard some of the teaching of Jesus, and witnessed the miracles… even that will be taken away).
(pause)
There are 2 more short parables…
Read vv 26-29.
What’s the message here??—>
b. Don’t flirt.
- there is a monotony to the kingdom.
The farmer sows the seeds and then the plant grows… The rain comes, it grows some more…
It just happens.
- but there will be an end.
There will be a time when it’s all over.
-> Don’t be deceived… don’t flirt with God.…for tomorrow may never come.
(don’t be someone who just hangs on the edges and never really puts down roots into the soil.
Never gets involved, comes to church occasionally, but never believes,… and grows…
Don’t keep putting off the decision you know is right!!!!!!!!!!!!)
(pause)
And finally, the parable of the mustard seed…
c. I think this is about getting perspective.
Read v 30.
What would you compare it? A plant… for it grows. Which plant???
Read vv 31-32.
Christianity is still the fastest growing religion in the world.
It’s not Islam as people commonly think.
And on the last day the kingdom will be massive- there will be people there from every corner of the globe. Every nation, tribe, people and tongue…
Do you have that perspective???
It’s very helpful if you do…
(pause)
WELL -> Do you have the ears to hear???
The good soil is those who have ears to hear.
The man I mentioned at the start who fell away.
He has a website where you can read what he thinks now.
He is not listening to Jesus. He is not paying attention to his word.
I pray that he will understand. I hope that he is perceptive and … realize the peril he is in.
But the onus is on him… to listen.
(pause)
But let’s finish on a positive note…
There is a twist in this story.
For Jesus is saying in Mark chapter 4, that now is the time for judgement.
And we know that the secret has been revealed. We have the gospel written for us, and anyone can read it.
So….
Where did the judgement go??? -> You’ve got to come next week.