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Mark
4:1-34
“And
he began to teach by the sea side: and
there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship,
and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by
parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, 3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower
to sow: 4
and it came to pass,
as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and
devoured it up. 5
And some fell on the
stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up,
because it had no depth of earth: 6
but when the sun was
up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the
thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did
yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and
some sixty, and some an hundred. 9
And he said unto
them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And when he was alone, they that were
about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is
given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these
things are done in parables: 12
that seeing they may
see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at
any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven
them. 13
And he said unto
them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? 14 The sower soweth the word. 15 And these are they by the way side,
where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and
taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 And these are they likewise which are
sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive
it with gladness; 17
and have no root in
themselves, and so endure but for a time:
afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake,
immediately they are offended. 18
And these are they
which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the
word, and it becometh unfruitful. 20
And these are they
which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it,
and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. 21 And he said unto them, Is a candle
brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to set on a
candlestick? 22
For there is nothing
hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was anything kept secret, but that
it should come abroad. 23
If any man have ears
to hear, let him hear. 24
And he said unto
them, Take heed what ye hear: with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you:
and unto you that hear shall more be given. 25 For he that hath, to him shall be
given: and he that hath not, from him
shall be taken even that which he hath. 26 And he said, So is the kingdom of God,
as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 and should sleep, and rise night and
day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. 28 For the earth bringeth forth fruit of
herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29 But when the fruit is brought forth,
immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. 30 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken
the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which,
when it is sown in the earth, is less than all seeds that be in the earth: 32 But when it is sown, it groweth up, and
becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the
fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. 33 And with many such parables spake he
the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. 34 But without a parable spake he not unto
them: and when they were alone, he
expounded all things to his disciples.”
Jesus
Teaches In Parables, Mark 4:1-20
“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 seed fell among
thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop,
multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.’ Then Jesus said, ‘He who has ears to hear,
let him hear.’ When he was alone, the
Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, ‘The secret of the kingdom of
God has been given to you. But to those
on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing
but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they
might turn and be forgiven.’ [taken from Isaiah 6:9-10] 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 seed
along 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 seed sown on rocky places, hear the Word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a
short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns,
hear the Word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and
the desires for other things come in and choke the Word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the Word,
accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was
sown.’”
The Parable Of The
Sower
An
entire nation could be fed from one seed. The Word of God is like a physical orange seed
or apple seed. Think of the seed that
grew the apple tree that produced the fruit, many apples, from which Johnny
Appleseed obtained his seeds to fill a sack full of them, and then trek across
the United States planting apple trees wherever he went. He is credited with seeding the entire United
States from coast to coast with apple trees! Think of it. And it started right here in Leominster,
Massachusetts! More and more churches
are turning to man’s methods of Pop psychology. Mike McIntosh had virtually blown his mind on
drugs as a young man. [Get the book about him “For The Love of Mike”]
As a young Christian (new convert), people got him into the Word of God, and as
he did that, over a period of time, his mind began to be healed. There’s power in the Word of God. We don’t understand it, but there’s power, a
power that goes beyond any Pop psychology of man. The Word of God interacting with God’s Spirit
in a human mind can heal that mind. It's
like that little seed and the power of what it can do, if we plant it and allow
it to work in our lives.
In Mark 4:1 Jesus began to teach by the sea. He started to teach them by parables. This was an even larger crowd than he had
encountered before. He got into a boat
and pushed out away into the water. The
shores of the Sea of Galilee often form natural amphitheaters. More and more as Jesus addresses these crowds
he uses parables. There’s a reason. The parable of the Sower gave an instant
visual picture to these people who were from an agrarian society. In this parable four types of soil were
mentioned. 1) The soil where the seed
fell on the wayside, 2) the soil where the seed fell on the rocky ground, and
3) the good soil, but filled with thorns and weeds in it, and 4) finally, the
good soil without thorns and seeds. Then
Jesus says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” i.e. He who has spiritual ears, let him hear. Many who have hard hearts can’t understand the
gospel when it’s being preached. Those
already inside the kingdom of God (spiritually speaking, [Colossians 1:13])
have this ability to hear and understand the gospel message. The parable is used to illustrate the truth. But many who were listening were already
spiritually tuned out to what Jesus was saying. Many were there just for the miracles, free
food, and healing. Also many Pharisees
and scribes were in the audience, hostile to Jesus and what he was saying. Isaiah describes those with this attitude. The crowd in general wanted healing and
free food, but they were indifferent to his teaching. Some feel these parables were given to try to
catch their attention in spite of the hard heartedness of many in the
crowd--talking with word pictures the crowd could easily understand. [Some
other Christians feel the parables, much like Isaiah 28:8-13 says, were given
to hide the truth--but no matter, the hardheartedness in many people’s minds
hides the truth of the gospel from their ever understanding, regardless of
which interpretation you go along with.] The word parable in the Greek
is parabalo. Para means alongside, and balo means to
cast, to throw. You put the two
together and you get casting alongside, or teaching stories alongside
a truth or principle. That’s the
purpose of a parable, to illustrate the truth. So Jesus is doing that and he knows the type
of people he has before him, listening. Mark quotes Isaiah here to show that many had
hearts that had grown dull, hard hearted, so they wouldn’t even understand
these parables. For those who wanted to
hear, the Holy Spirit would illuminate what they heard. In verse 13 Jesus now
explains the parable to his disciples. The
seed sown on the wayside is about people who, when they hear, Satan
(represented by the birds in the parable) comes immediately and takes away the
Word that was sown in their hearts. Likewise,
the seed sown on the stony ground is about people who when they hear the Word,
immediately they receive it with gladness, but they have no root in themselves,
so they endure only for a time, and then afterward when persecution or
tribulation arises for the Word’s sake, immediately they stumble. The seed sown among the thorns are the ones
who hear the Word, but the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and
the desires for other things choke the Word and so they become unfruitful. The seed sown on good ground are the ones who
accept the Word and bear fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold and some
hundredfold.
Four Types Of Soil,
States Of Mind
Jesus explains that the seed is the
Word of God--the Gospel. Most likely the
sower is Jesus, the Son of Man himself. But no doubt the sower can also be anyone who
preaches and teaches the Word of God. Then he goes on to explain about the different
soils, representing the different hearts of people who’ll hear the Word being
preached and what their reception of hearing God’s Word would be like. When you teach the Word you can see by what
Jesus taught here that it would be received differently depending on the state
of mind of whoever is listening. Some
will be receptive for awhile until the going gets rough, then quit. Some will start to receive it, but Satan and
his world will take their understanding away. Some won’t accept at all, and some will grab
onto what’s said and not let go. That’s
just a fact of life about the heart of man. All these various mindsets could be in an
audience listening to someone preaching the Word of God. It’s just a spiritual fact of life Jesus was
bringing out.
The Seed Sown On The
Path, Wayside
The seeds sown by the wayside, the
birds that come and eat the seed up, represent Satan himself and his demon
world. That’s true with some. The seed of the Word comes in, and Satan comes
and removes it before it can have any impact on their lives. Satan comes and seeks to keep the Word of God
from people’s hearts, and in some cases he has 100 percent success. Certain hearts are really hard, and when they
hear the Word of God, Satan comes in and takes that Word, that seed, before it
can really have an impact on them. Paul
described this very fact in 2nd Corinthians when he
says, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are
perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe,
lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine on them.” Paul
makes the same point. If the gospel is
veiled, it is only veiled to those who have hard hearts. [Satan and the evil broadcast of his attitudes
harden the hearts of those in this evil world and its societies so they can’t
receive the gospel. Many Christians and
theologians alike don’t fully understand this fact, nor the purpose for which
God has allowed this to be since Adam’s time in Genesis 3. Some think they understand why God has allowed
this while others don’t seem to have a clue. In Job 1 we see that the Lord uses Satan like
a pawn for his own good purposes. Never
forget that God is more powerful than Satan, and all his demon cohorts! Much
will be revealed to us by the Lord in the kingdom age to come that we don’t
comprehend now, I’m sure.] Paul says, “...whose
minds the god of this age have blinded.” So there’s folks, people, many people who
Satan and his demons have blinded. You
can share the gospel, the Truth with them and they’re blinded to it. It just doesn't do anything. Paul says again in 1st Corinthians
2:14, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them for they are spiritually
discerned.” He says the natural
man cannot receive the things of God. The
natural man, without the Holy Spirit just doesn’t tune in. They’re just not able to receive the Word of
God.
Pray For The Sower,
Those Who Sow The Seed
The fact that Satan is actually allowed
to take the Word of God from people’s hearts ought to show us something. There’s a spiritual battle going on. That should tell us that we need to pray for
the preaching of the Word, that it go out with power and that Satan is
restrained where and when the gospel is being preached (Ephesians 6:11-20). You know when the minister comes and
ministers, preaches the Word, he is only one person ministering to a whole
group, preaching. But you can minister
also. And that is through prayer! You can be praying that Satan be restrained,
because the enemy wants to hinder the preaching of the Word and its reception
in the minds of people. He wants to
distract people. You can pray that this
not happen, every Sunday or Saturday morning--before the service, during the
service, you can battle in prayer, and it will have a great effect. And if two or more are gathered together doing
this the effect will be even greater. The
pastor’s preaching will bring forth fruit, and change lives, both in the
already saved, and those that need saving, sitting in your midst. Remember Daniel Nash and his companions
laboring in prayer before and during Charles Finney’s revival meetings.
The Seed Sown On The
Stony Ground
Jesus goes on and explains the next
type of soil. It’s the soil where the
seed lands on stony ground. At once they
hear the Word and receive it with a lot of joy, but then due to a lack of root
in themselves, he says, they stumble when the heat is turned on, trials come
their way--when persecution and tribulation come. Those who have no depth of root can’t handle
the heat. And that describes this kind
of heart, they receive the Word of God with joy, but when the tough times come,
they stumble. The danger is when a
person’s reaction to the Word of God is only an emotional response. Faith in Christ is an issue of the will and
sometimes there’s no emotion involved. That’s where our roots have to go, beyond mere
emotion, down to the level of the will. Jesus
was describing people who come to him but only on the emotional level, only
because it tickled their ears, but it didn’t affect their will. But when the heat of the day comes, when
persecution or difficulty comes which comes as being a part of the church, they
stumble and leave. Coming to Christ is
an issue of the will, really, not an emotional response. Persecution, in that sense, is good for the
church. It separates the real Christians
from the want-to-be’s. Our prayer ought
to be Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3, “...that Christ would dwell in our
hearts through faith, that we would be rooted and grounded in love and
be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, length, and height
to know the love of Christ that passes knowledge, that we would be filled with
all the fullness of God.” He prayed that we would be deeply rooted and
grounded in love.
The Seed Sown Among
Thorns
The third category in verse 18, Jesus
now deals with those seed sown among the thorns. In verse 19 it shows that
these are the ones who hear the Word, but the cares of this world and the
desires for other things choke the Word, and then because of that they
become unfruitful Christians. The
first two categories are definitely not made up of believers, but this third
category could very well be made up of believers, who are just barely going to
make it into the kingdom of heaven. You see this a lot in church. You see them in church, attending but maybe
there isn’t a lot of fruit in their lives. The reason, Jesus says, is they’re entangled
in the world—they’ve got two masters. They
have Jesus, and they have the world. Jesus
warned the Church of Laodicea, ‘I’m about to spue you out of my
mouth...I'm not into this half-hearted devotion.’ [see https://unityinchrist.com/revelation/revelation3-1-22.html]
That's what he’s talking about when he
talks about these thorns, choking out the life. He labels these things that choke us thorns of
this world, deceitfulness of riches, and desires for other things. It’s not riches in themselves but the world’s
siren song that you need riches which is deceitful. It will not give you what you want, but it
will take from you the good stuff, the fruit of God--what God wants to do in
your life. If our focus starts to turn
from Christ to the world, it’s going to choke out the fruit--the Christian
growth in the Spirit. That’s what Jesus
says here. I think of Paul in 2nd
Timothy when he says to Timothy, “No one engaged in warfare
entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who
enlisted him as a soldier, and also if anyone competes in athletics, is not
crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” Paul says, if you’re a Marine, you’re devoted
to your Captain, to try to please him and do well. And also an athlete is focused on the crown,
the prize and goal, and he doesn’t get side-tracked. That’s what Jesus is saying, if you’re running
the Christian race and get side-tracked, entangled in the cares of the world
again, you’re going to miss out on the crown Christ has reserved for you. You’re in danger of becoming a fruitless
believer. What kind of fruit is he
talking about? He is talking about love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, and self-control (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). If these things aren’t a part of your life,
your spiritual make-up, then maybe this is the reason, you’re being choked by
the cares of this world, you’re distracted. A good way to know you are drifting spiritually
is when you start seeing things again in your life that were once removed. This is talking about things that are being
re-introduced into your life that the Holy Spirit once removed before, but now
are slowly coming back into your life. (This
is talking about sins, habitual sins, that were once removed by and under the
influence of the Holy Spirit.) If you’re
not growing, you are not really stationary, you’re actually drifting backward. To hedge against drifting you must get
anchored in Christ. Hebrews 2:1, “Therefore we must give the most earnest
heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.” Unless you do this you will drift away, seeing
things come back into your life that were taken out. Paul said in 2nd Corinthians,
“While we do not look at the things which are seen but at the things which are
not seen, for the things that are seen are temporary, but the things which are
not seen are eternal.” The rest
of the stuff (which riches bring) are great if you are blessed with them, but
they are still temporary. Don’t get
focused on them.
The Seed On Good
Ground
The last category Jesus mentioned is
the seed that fell on good ground. This
is the soil that when seed falls on it, it just bears fruit and fruit and more
fruit. People in this category just keep
on bearing spiritual fruit and fruit in multiple amounts. Luke says that these are people that hear the
Word, those that receive it, and those that keep it--hearing, receiving and
keeping the Word, three vital things that make one fruitful. That is the power of the Word of God when
applied properly in a person’s life. It's
amazing, the harvest that can come from the Word of God planted on good soil--a
receptive mind that hears, receives and keeps the Word of God. In conclusion, let's look in John 15,
Jesus said in verses 4-7, “Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I’m the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much
fruit. For without me, you can do
nothing. If anyone does not abide in me,
he is cast out as a branch, is withered and they gather them and they throw
them into the fire and they are burned. If
you abide in me and my words in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall
be done for you. By this my Father is
glorified, if you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples.” Jesus says here in John, if you abide in
Christ, in him, you will grow. In verse
7 he says, ‘If you’ll abide in me and my words abide in you--as
you obey my words and they begin to grow in you, you’ll be fruitful, and you’re
going to grow in Christ.’ That’s
what David said in Psalm 1, he said, “Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the way of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and he
meditates on it day and night. He’s like
a tree planted by springs of water which will yield its fruit in season. Whatever he does prospers...” As the Word of God goes out, if it’s properly
assimilated, it will cause you to grow. That’s
what Jesus says in John chapter 15, ‘If you want to grow, just abide in
me...it will take place very naturally.’ Then John says in 1st John 3, not
only will abiding in Christ cause good stuff to grow, but it will also cause
the bad stuff to be pushed out of you. 1st
John 3:6, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen
him or known him.” John says, if
you abide in him, you’re not going to sin. If you abide in him it’s going to
produce fruit in your life, causing these beautiful things to grow. And it’s also going to cause the things that
you wish weren’t there to just go out of you. You may not even be able to
understand how this takes place, but it will just take place.
Mark 4:21-34
Mark
4:21-34, “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 on its
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 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 the soil produces grain--first
the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the
sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’
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, 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.” Think of it this way. The spiritual truth is like we have this
spiritual valve on our heart and God has the water pressure of his spiritual
truth all the way up. But we control
this spiritual water valve. For some of
us he’s standing there waiting to pour his love into our hearts, but that valve
is closed shut. In some cases some
people have cracked that valve all the way open. Most of the people God has used greatly
started opening up to God at a young age. Charles Spurgeon gave his first sermon at age
16. Greg Lorie started a Calvary Bible study at age 19 which within a year was
packing out the Anaheim Convention Center. Billy Graham was in his early 20’s when he was
president of a college, Joan of Arch was just 14 when God radically used her. Many young don’t have a lot of baggage we old
people do and just open that heart valve all the way open. Don’t forget, Jesus said, “With the measure
you use, it will be measured to you.”
Parable Of The Lamp
Mark
4:21, “He said to them, ‘Do you bring a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?
Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?’” John in his gospel said Jesus is the true
light that gives light to every man. John
1:1-9, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, without him
nothing was made that has been made. In
him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the
darkness has not understood it. There
came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning
that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as
a witness to the light. The true light
that gives light to every man was coming into the world.” John 3:19-21, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved
darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and
will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the
light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done
through God.” Jesus is probably about the mid-point
of his ministry, but the hearts of many around him have grown cold. As a result he’s changed his teaching
style--teaching in parables. The purpose
of teaching in parables, as we learned, wasn’t to hide the truth, but to draw
attention to the truth. It’s to draw the
attention of his audience because their hearts have grown cold. This point he is making in verse 21 is that
although he’s sharing in parables, he is the light. He is the light of the world and he’s come to
give light. A parable does not hide the
truth. But to those whose hearts are
hard, it seems to hide the truth. To
those who have dull hearts the truth seems to be veiled to them. But to those whose hearts are soft, a parable
will draw you to the truth. Jesus says
that in verse 22, “For whatever is hidden is meant to be
disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought into the open.”
i.e. If your heart is open, if you’ll
crack open that valve on your heart, the truth will come to you. The light will come to a willing heart. Solomon says the same thing back in the Old
Testament. “It is the glory of God
to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search out a matter.” Once again Jesus says “If anyone has ears
to hear, let him hear.” He says that
many times in the Bible. He’s talking
about having a spiritual ear. Matthew
quoted Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it
under a bowl. Instead they put it on its
stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before
men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
In other words, whatever we’ve heard we
should go out and preach. A healthy
church body is a body that is evangelistic. In 1st John it basically says that
if you love God, you’ll love your brother. He says, ‘If you do not love your
brother, you do not love God.’ Light and love go together. You’ve got to put your vanity aside, you’ve
got to put your pride to the side when you evangelize--going out to care for
people who you’ve never met before. That
is not the normal human response. You
will do this only if the light and love of God is in your heart. Then you begin to go out and to share the
gospel. John is saying, ‘If you
love your brother, you’re one of my [God’s] kids.’ God is saying that through John. In verse 20 of Mark 4 Jesus was talking of a
fruitful Christian. Then he goes on in
verse 21 and talks about light and love and evangelism. I think that’s very interesting, just this
order because there is no doubt that a fruitful Christian is a witnessing
Christian. Every time you see a
Christian who is bearing much fruit, one thing is for sure, he or she is doing
a lot of evangelizing. The two indeed go
together. When it comes to spiritual
growth, one thing is for sure, you plateau spiritually if you do not overflow. You’ll grow a little bit, but if you’re not
overflowing, if you’re not evangelizing, you’re going to plateau. You grow when you overflow. Have you opened your heart to the light of
Christ? And are you reflecting that
light to others? If you’re not, you’re
effectively a lamp under the bed, and that’s silly. Is that valve on your heart open to the light
of God at all? There are hearts [in this world] that aren’t
even open, they’re just shut tight. How
do we open that heart valve? Good
question. You open that valve by faith and by belief. In John 12 Jesus said, “A
little while longer, the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest the
darkness overtake you. He who walks in
the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the
light, that you may become sons of the light.” (John 12:35-36) Verses 24-25, “‘Consider carefully what
you hear,’ he continued. ‘With the
measure you use, 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.’” Consider his words carefully, he’s saying.
These words are the very words of life
(spiritual life). The degree that you
open up to the Lord is what you’re going to get. If you open a little, you’ll get a little, but
if you open up wide he will just pour his love into your life. That’s the truth that he’s talking about. But
be careful, the way you judge the Word of God is going to determine how you’re
going to be judged by it.
The Growth-Power Of Sown Seed
Verse
26-29, “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 the soil produces grain--first
the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the
sickle to it, because the harvest has come.’” The kingdom of God [that spiritually comes into a
person’s heart by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit] is as if a man scattered
seed on the ground, and then he went to bed, and then he woke up in the
morning, and he was surprised, he didn’t do anything but sleep, but sprouts
began to come up, as the seeds had been sown.
And eventually it even matured and there was a harvest. And this is about the wonderful truth about
the Word of God and the effect it will have on people when it is sown. There is incredible potential and power in the
seed, the Word of God. The Word of God
is supernatural. As a ministry we don’t
need gimmicks to try to draw people here, we don’t have to come up with these
great little marketing pizazz things--just preach the Word, teach the Word, and
it goes out, and the hearts that receive it will prosper there. We don’t receive when we lack faith. Sometimes we’re like “No way man! Can’t do it. Reading the Bible, it will not do it.” But you're mocking God when you say that,
because he will honor his Word above his name. He will bless his Word if we will receive his
Word. If we preach his Word, he’ll honor
his Word. That’s the way it works. And God’s Word will go into your life, even
though you don’t comprehend sometimes how it works. And that light that’s there will begin to
shine, and it will push out the darkness. There are people that like the darkness. You’ve already read the verse, they like to
stay in the darkness. Too bad they do,
because there’s light that God wants to share with them. Jesus is sharing in parables with them now
because people like the darkness. “I
want the miracle, Jesus, I want you to heal my body, I don’t necessarily want
to hear this sermon” is what they’re saying. So Jesus has gone to parables at least to try
to grab their attention. Well maybe you’re
like somebody in the crowd around Jesus, and your heart has become dull to the
Lord. That can happen, you can be doing
great, then after awhile, you don’t know how it’s happened, you kind of become
dull, dull to the Word of God--dull to his music, his overtures as he plays and
tries to speak to you. Well, maybe what
you need is some gardening. Jeremiah
said, “Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord and take
away the foreskins of your hearts.” He says, ‘Break up the fallow ground of
your heart.’ If your heart is
hard, if it has become dull, he says, ‘Break it up, you have the choice,
go in, break up the fallow ground.’ The Word of God can be planted there. Remove the thorns, ask God to circumcise your
heart. We can get dull to the Word of
God so it’s not impacting our life. So
Jeremiah says in essence, ‘Break up that fallow ground, ask God to remove
that hardened flesh, so it will be soft and receptive to his Word.’ God says in Hosea, “Sow for yourselves
righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it’s time to
seek the Lord, till he comes and reigns righteousness on you.” At these times we need to pray and ask
God, “Make me sensitive to you again.” And then he says he’ll come and he’ll reign
righteousness on you. He just pours it
on, pours on the power and love. God
uses broken vessels, he uses broken men and women, those are the ones who are
receptive. A broken vessel is usable by
God because a broken vessel is not attractive on the outside. An unbroken vessel can’t be seen on the
inside, but a broken vessel’s contents flow out of it—God’s love shines out to
others from it. Breaking is sweet, but
it hurts to be broken when God has to take you through that time. But in a most
amazing way, a sweetness comes from it in your life.
Parable Of The Mustard Seed
Verses
30-32, “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, 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.’” A mustard seed was very tiny, but a mustard
plant would grow to about the height of the head of a horse. You put this tiny seed in the ground and this
big plant comes from it. (Giant sequoias
come from a very tiny seed also, and yet they grow to be the largest tree on
earth. A company I worked for had the
name of Sequoia. On their coffee mugs
was a logo, “Sequoias Are Known For Their Size, But They Too Start Small.”)
The mass of that tiny seed is multiplied
millions and billions of times over, and Jesus says that is like the kingdom of
God. Just a small seed of the Word of
God, what it can do in our lives. It’ll
just grow and grow. Maybe you’re sitting
there, looking at your spouse and thinking, “Wow, rough edges.” But the seed of God is there, and it will grow
and will begin to bring forth growth like you wouldn’t believe. It’s amazing, that little seed, and what can
come from it in your life. When you read
a parable, you need to read it and just pray, and the understanding will come
to you. Not all the little details are
there to have a spiritual truth to them. Some of them are there just to add color to
the story, to help illuminate the central truth. Here in this parable you have this large
mustard tree or bush, and now you have these birds in the branches. And some people have taught on the birds, but
I think in this case when I read it in Mark I think the birds are there just to
add color. But when you look in Luke the
birds are also there, and Jesus is drawing attention to the birds and wanting
to make a note. In Matthew this parable
follows the parable of the wheat and tares, where Jesus says this guy goes out
and plants this good seed and it starts to grow, but another guy in the middle
of the night goes out and plants this bad stuff. They both grow. Now you have the good seed and the bad seed
growing together. And right after that
Jesus talks about this. Jesus shows the
kingdom of God just growing and expanding. But sometimes there’s even a natural growth,
in a sense, where the birds of the air represent Satan and his buddies, moving
in and beginning to nest in the tree in the kingdom. And that can happen, and we see it taught that
way in the Scripture, where the kingdom of God is growing, but some bad seeds
have gotten in there now, and in the parable of the wheat and tares it is the
angels in the end who determine what the tares are. (Or who they are.) So in some cases we’re not going to know what
or who the tares are and what the birds are until we get to the end (and it is
revealed for us). I know I’m not a tare,
I know I’m wheat, personally. I hope you
all know that. But ultimately God knows
somebody else’s heart, I don’t. But that
does happen, the growth comes and there’s this great work of God starting in
this little mustard seed--Boom!--and then the institution mentality sets
it, and now we’ve got this religious system going, and the birds just come in
and light on the branches and begin to move in. And then you have trouble. And that is something I think Jesus is trying
to bring out too.
In closing
Verses
33-34, “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.” So he explains to his disciples. They in privacy must have said, ‘I don’t
quite get it.’ And so the Lord
shares it with them. That is what
happens with us. If the light is in us,
we want to know the truth. So we just
get alone with the Lord, and the Lord will begin to illuminate these truths to
us. Turn to John chapter 14. I want to share a thought with you I found in
E. Campbell Morgan’s commentary. Jesus
says in John 14:16, “‘I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me you would have known my
Father also. From now on you know him
and have seen him.’ Phillip said, ‘Lord,
show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so
long and yet have you not known me Phillip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. So how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and
the Father in me? These words that I
have spoken to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who
dwells in me does the works.’” G.
Campbell Morgan made the comment that “Jesus is the ultimate parable.”
Obviously as the Logos [cf. John 1:1-14]
he’s sharing these parables to draw people to the Word, to the Truth, but Jesus
is the Logos, the Word. He is the Life,
he is the Truth. And he says here, and
has used the imagery here, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.”
That’s kind of like a parable. He’s
saying, “If you look at me, if you’ve seen me with those spiritual eyes,
then you’ve connected with the Father.”
Mark 4:35-41
"No Reason To Be Afraid"
|
“And
the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over
unto the other side. 36 And when they had sent away the
multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little
ships. 37 And there arose a great storm
of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38 And he was in the
hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow:
and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we
perish? 39 And he arose, and rebuked the
wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto
them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41 And they feared
exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even
the wind and the sea obey him?” A
number of years ago it was reported that the newspaper counselor, Ann
Landers, receives an average of 10,000 letters each month, and nearly all of
them are burdened with problems. She
was asked “Is there any one problem that predominates the letters you
receive?” And her reply was “The
one problem above all others seems to be fear.” People are afraid of losing their
health, their wealth, their loved ones, people are even terrified of life itself.
The dictionary says that “Fear is a
feeling of alarm caused by expectation of danger, or a state of dread...” and
in some cases, fear is a healthy thing God has created in us. You know when you’re on the subway in
Boston, you’re going through a T stop that isn’t that safe, and you think, as
you’re passing through this T stop, you get this sense of fear which
overtakes you. And you sense you need
to get off the subway as quickly as possible, and you get off. And you come to find out that God was leading
you to get off the subway. There was a
danger on the subway, some person that was going to mug you or something. I give that to you as an example because
there are times when God puts that sense of fear in our hearts for a reason,
to get us to move because of impending danger. That’s a healthy fear to have. There’s also other healthy fears to have. A fear of God—that’s a healthy fear. Look in a concordance. There are hundreds of verses that speak of
fearing God. In Psalm 111
we’re told that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
This is a fear that is being in awe of
the Creator, in awe of God, of his presence and power. It’s a healthy fear, a good fear to have, an
awe of God. Another fear that is
healthy to have is a fear of sin. Paul
shares about confronting an elder in sin. He says in 1st Timothy “Those
who are sinning” (this is talking about an elder) “rebuke in the presence of
all, that the rest also may fear.” We’re exhorted in the Scripture to have a
fear of sin, to fear sin and it consequences.
So there are times where we are to have a healthy fear, but as the
letters to Ann Landers show us, reveal to us, there’s often fear in our lives
that’s very unhealthy. And this is
what we’re going to look at this morning.
Faith and fear, that is, unhealthy fear,
cannot co-exist. You either have one or the other
Either
you’re walking in faith or you’re going to have fear. You can’t have the two at the same time. If fear is in your heart, if you’re afraid
of the future, then you’re not walking in faith. The two do not co-exist at the same time. When one is present the other leaves. John writes in his letter, in 1st
John he says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear, because
fear involves torment. But he who
fears has not been made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us.”
So John tells us that when you have
that perfect love of God, that love casts out fear. And he says God first loved us. So I rest in that. It’s a perfect love. And as I accept that in faith, the result of
that is to cast out fear. The fear
just subsides and goes away as my heart is filled with faith in his love and
his power. Also God says to us in
Isaiah, as his children he says that we’re not to have fear, and the reason
why is because he is with us. He
says, ‘Don't fear, I am with you.’ Isaiah 41, “Fear not for
I am with you. Be not dismayed for I
am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand.” Maybe today you find
yourself struggling with fear. There
are things in your life causing you to be afraid. God just wants to remind us, as a child of
God, we do not need to be afraid. There’s
no reason to be afraid as the children of God. God desires that we have peace and it’s a
peace that passes understanding. We’ll
see today in Mark, you know as we go through this gospel we see Jesus, the
more we learn, as Paul says, we can count all things loss compared to knowing
Christ. As we go through this gospel
we see Jesus. And as we look today, it’s
clear, you and I have no reason to be afraid, because God, Jesus is with us. We don’t need to fear the storms of life. We don’t need to fear any bondage’s of life,
of the world. We don't need to fear
suffering. We don’t need to fear man,
his failures, his rejections. We don’t
even need to fear death itself, as we look at this text this morning. And if there’s no fear of death, then there
isn’t anything left to fear. We’re
told in Scriptures that you, as a Christian, don’t need to fear death. David worships and says in Psalm 23, “Yeah
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
And then he says why, “For you
are with me, your rod and staff, they comfort me.” He says, ‘I have nothing to fear. You
are with me God.’
As A Child Of God You Don’t Need To Fear The
Storms Of Life
Let’s
look starting with verse 35, chapter four of Mark, “On the
same day when evening had come he said to them, ‘Let us cross over to the
other side.’ Now when they had left
the multitude they took him along in a boat as he was, and other little boats
were also with him. And a great
windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already
filling. But he was astern asleep on a
pillow, and they awoke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we
are perishing?’ Then he arose and
rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And there was a great calm. And he said to them, ‘Why are you so
fearful? How is it that ye have no
faith?’ And they feared exceedingly
and said to one another, ‘Who can this be that even the wind and the waves
obey him?’--Who can this possibly be?” As a child of God you and I don’t need to
fear the storms of life. It’s been a
long day here for Jesus and his disciples, as we kind of put all the events
together as we’ve been studying, and it’s evening and now he says, “Let’s
go to the other side of the sea.” And it seems most likely that Jesus is very
tired, there’s a multitude if you remember from last week. He’s already in a boat, the multitude was so
vast he actually had to step into a boat to effectively communicate and teach
this crowd, teaching in parables. And
it’s been a long day as you put all of the events together and probably he’s
physically tired. He is a man. He’s God, but he is a man. And the disciples probably need some rest
too, and so the only place they’re going to get rest is away from the
multitudes, so he says, ‘Let’s set sail to the other side of the sea.’ And you read there as they do that, some
other little boats, some other folks still want to follow, so they jump into
their little boats and they follow him. So he doesn’t completely get away from the
crowd, but at least he got an opportunity here to find rest. But the multitude has taken its toll. And due to the exhaustion, I at least see a
lot of exhaustion in Jesus’ body, because you see there that he has fallen
asleep on a pillow in the stern of this boat. And he sleeps through quite a situation
there. As they begin to make this
journey across the sea of Galilee--it's just a few miles, it’s not a very
large body of water--a storm begins, a windstorm suddenly comes down upon the
vessel. The geography shows us storms
can come quickly upon the sea of Galilee. There are very tall mountains right around
the sea, they’re very steep, rising up very quickly. Then you have the sea of Galilee 700 feet
below sea level and you have the Jordan valley there. Wind storms can come in very quickly due to
the thermal gradients in the air and things, and they can really come upon
you surprisingly. That’s what happens
here to the disciples. I know when we
were there last December and we were in a boat that set sail across the sea
of Galilee, that I took a picture because the water of the sea of Galilee was
like glass. It was like a mirror,
perfectly still, and you saw the reflections of the mountains and things. But just moments later it began to be very
choppy. Very quickly it changed. And that happens, and that’s what happens
here to these disciples and Jesus and the others as they have set sail across
the sea of Galilee. The storm in this
case is so intense that waves of water begin to come into the boat. And with that the disciples are now in fear.
They begin to really question whether
they’re going to make it across, because the water is coming into the boat to
such a degree. And all along now you
see Jesus is so exhausted because he’s been giving life, pouring out his life
that he’s sleeping through this storm as the boat is tossed to and fro as the
wind is blowing and all the screaming, he’s still sleeping in the stern. Well, in frustration the disciples go to
Jesus and they awake him and say, “Teacher, do you not care that we are
perishing?” Maybe you can relate
to that. Maybe you’ve been there
before. “Do you not care that we’re perishing here, do you not care?” What a picture here in these verses of what
happens to you and I sometimes. Life
might be going along just fine and then this wind begins to pick up and then
waves begin to increase and this storm is all of a sudden howling, and enters
our life, sometimes very unexpectedly. Sometimes
it’s a ferocious storm. And as the
waves come and the wind blows we begin to get afraid, asking, “What is
going on here? Am I gonna make it
through this storm? This is intense. I didn't expect this.” Especially the storms that last awhile can
really begin to put a fear in your heart. And in that state what often happens is that
you begin to question God. “God,
this isn't very fair. Why’d you allow this into my life?” “What is going on
here?” “I didn’t deserve this.”
You even question his character and
say, “Are you really good? You say
you’re good, but this doesn't seem like a good thing that this would happen
to me in my life.” “I don't
understand, what did I do to deserve this?” You begin to question even his love. “You say you’re a God of love, but well,
this doesn’t seem like you’re a God of love with the things that are going on
here.” [The Christians in
Yugoslavia during World War II could have been saying exactly these same
things, but many weren’t. You can read
their story in Marie Chapian’s book "Of Whom The World Was Not
Worthy", available online at http://www.amazon.com
for $7.99.] That’s happened to me in
my life. Sometimes those winds when
they’re blowing and howling can be very difficult. I remember one storm that came into my life
awhile back. It was going and going
and eventually I couldn’t take it. This despair began to set into my heart. I just started to struggle. Each time I weathered the storm and thought
the storm was over, the wind would howl again and the waves were bigger than
before and would knock me down. That
can really get you down, as it continues to happen. I was there once, it just kept getting
worse. I’d say, “Hey, this is bad
enough Lord.” And the next day it
got even worse. You know, at one time,
I began to question whether I was even going to make it. I began to even be
afraid of life. Despair was really
deep in my heart...But you know God spoke to me (in my heart) and he spoke to
me twice on two different occasions, and I finally had to stand one day and
say, “Lord, you’ve told me twice you love me, you’ve told me twice that
you’re with me and you’ve told me that you’re going to bless the future. I need to accept it by faith.” And I stood up and walked and I went ahead
and I pressed forward in faith. [And
this particular pastor now had a congregation of over 100 people, a radio
ministry, and they were desperately looking for a bigger building to meet in,
which they found, now they’re about 400. It started out with about five
people meeting in the tiny radio studio building.] You know, if there is fear in my heart, your
heart, there’s no faith. And it’s hard
to live a life of fear. But to walk in
faith is to get up, to press forward, be strong and stand strong.
Just Who Is Sleeping In The Back Of The
Boat With Them?
Verse
39,
He stands up and he rebukes the wind and says, “Peace, be still!”
And as you read, the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Amazingly Jesus quiets the storm. Imagine being one of the disciples on this
boat. Jesus has been able to heal,
cast out demons. He’s even indicated
that he can forgive sin. But there’s
still a lack of understanding just of who is in the boat with
them. They don’t understand that the
Creator of the universe is laying in the stern of that boat. That hasn’t quite sunk in yet. So Jesus stands up, to them a man still, and
he says, “Peace, be still!” And
this storm stops. I mean, these guys
are like stunned, they’re in awe. I
think then a healthy fear enters their heart, as you read there in verse
41, “They were exceedingly fearful.” But I think now a good fear, as they’re
saying ‘God is in our boat!’ ‘This
is God that we’ve been walking with.’ [cf. John 1:1-11.] Because Paul says in Colossians
chapter one, “For by him”--that is Jesus--“all things were
created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, and all things were
created through him and for him.” God
used this storm to reveal to these disciples again who was in
the boat. They needed to learn a
little bit more about who he was--that God was with them--in the boat with
them. And he was the one--the only
one--that was able to stand up and stop the storm. Well now, the disciples were able to see
that the Creator was there, the controller of all things. They saw omnipotent power, there, right
before them. And that was going to
help them later on in life with all the persecution and trials they would
face. This experience, this reality
wasn’t just a head knowledge thing. Now
they knew that Jesus could even stop the wind and stop the waves. He’s omnipotent, he’s God, he’s Creator. So when the challenges that would come later
arrived they’d be ready and could stand through that, and even extend faith and
courage to others as the storms of life pass through. Storms come into our lives so you and I can
learn more about the character of Jesus. You know, we can have the Bible study head
knowledge, but God has got to bring those storms in so that you and I know it
by experience and therefore can grab onto it and walk in it in the faith that
Jesus can stop the wind, he can stop the waves. Initially, when those storms come we begin
to doubt his character. But when the
storm is stopped and now we’re there in the calm of the aftermath, we begin
to just stand in awe of the beauty of his character and of his power. It increases our faith, and the life of
faith is a beautiful life to live.
Are You In A Storm?
Are
you currently in the midst of a storm? Has fear or despair set in? Sometimes that happens. It’s happened to me. Is Jesus asking you “Why are you so
fearful? Why do you have no faith?” If you don’t have faith, the fear just comes
right in. Jesus wants to remind you
that HE IS WITH YOU. HE IS THE CREATOR
OF ALL THINGS. His love toward you is
a perfect love. He wants to remind you
today of that. Receive his Word in
faith, and when you do, the fear begins to subside, you get up and you press
on. If you believe in his power, if
you believe in his love and faith, that is a conquering faith. That’s the type of faith God wants to give
you. So he takes you through these
storms so you can come to believe in his power, and believe in his love. You don’t just have this head knowledge but
you believe in it. And then you can conquer
in faith as things come, you can stand strong and even extend faith and
encouragement to others. And with
every storm that comes into our lives, every storm will one day pass. And the calm will come. God has allowed storms in your life for a
purpose. And in the calm of the
passing storm we learn what we’re exhorted hundreds of times in the Bible--to
fear God, and that’s an awe of him.
Mark 5:1-20
From Storm To Demonic Bondage
Let’s
look at Mark 5:1-20, “And they came to the other side of the sea to the
country of the Gadarenes. And when
they had come out of the boat immediately there met him out of the tombs a
man with an unclean spirit who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one could bind him, not even with
chains. Because he had often been
bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him,
and the shackles broken in pieces. Neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day he was in the
mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar he ran and
worshipped him, and he cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘What have I to
do with you Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God that you do not torment
me.’ For he said to him, ‘Come out of
the man, unclean spirit.’ And he asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And he answered saying, ‘My name is Legion
for we are many.’ Also he begged him
earnestly that he would not send them out of the country. And a large herd of swine was feeding there
near the mountains. So all the demons
begged him saying, ‘Send us to the swine that we may enter them.’ And at once Jesus gave them permission and
the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine. There were about two thousand. And the herd ran violently down the steep
place into the sea and drown in the sea. So those who fed the swine fled, and they
told it in the city and the country. And they went out to see what it was that
had happened. And they came to Jesus
and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the Legion sitting and
clothed, and in his right mind. And
they were afraid. And those who saw it
told them how it had happened to him who had been demon possessed, and about
the swine. Then they began to plead
with him to depart from their region. And
when he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged with him
that he might be with him. However
Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends and tell
them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he’s had compassion
on you.’ And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus
had done for him. And all marveled.” With Jesus, when he’s with us, you and I don’t
need to be afraid. We don’t need to be
afraid of the storms and we don’t need to be afraid of the bondage’s that we
find in the world.
Sometimes that can be the most fearful thing in life. You have this thing, this grip of evil on
your life that you’re in bondage to, and you can be afraid of even the next
day. This thing consumes you and
controls your life. Well, the
disciples have been through a storm and then they had quite an experience
watching Jesus kick out a legion of demons out of a man they’d possessed for
years. It must have been exciting
being with Jesus. You go from the
storm to deviled ham with all the pigs jumping into the water. This man comes to Jesus as they come to the
shore. He comes running, he sees
Jesus. And this man is a man that is a
picture of great bondage, a tremendous bondage. Nobody could help this man. Many tried to shackle him and to hold him,
but nobody could help this man. He was
in such bondage. In fact as he says
who he is when Jesus asked for the name of the demons, they say, ‘My
name is Legion for we are many.’ A Roman legion of soldiers was over six
thousand soldiers, six thousand eight hundred and twenty six men. Is there six thousand demons in this man? It’s bad enough having one demon in your
life, let alone six thousand dwelling there. I wonder if anyone else has been possessed
with so many demons and been in such bondage as this man. We’re given this story so we can see
somebody in the greatest depth of bondage, yet we see him encounter God. Look at the anguish of soul. Also you see what bondage’s do as he’s
cutting himself with stones. Hating
even his flesh and what’s going on. But,
in this story, he comes and falls at the feet of Jesus. And Jesus does a work. Maybe you feel the grip of evil in your life.
Maybe you’re afraid, because of that
bondage. Sometimes we are, living in
some kind of bondage and fear. You can
see what we need to do, and that is to go and fall at the feet of Jesus. He is the only one that can deliver us. So we can see somebody in the greatest depth
of bondage, yet we see him encounter God. Look at the anguish of soul.
Alcoholics
Anonymous points people to seek a higher power, but you can miss by a mile if
you don’t get Jesus. If you don’t get
Jesus, you do not have a higher power to rely on. He is the only one who is going to deliver
you from the bondage you may find yourself in. Buddha’s not going to do it for you,
Mohammed’s not going to do it for you, the New Age meetings aren’t going to
do it. You may have a little success
on your own, but when it’s bondage, the bondage of the world, the grip of
evil, there’s only one, and that is Jesus. You have drug addiction, alcohol addiction,
the mind begins to change and the chemistry that goes on with alcohol
addiction. Pornography can work the
same way, different things the enemy can bring into our lives that can just
be a bondage to us. Jesus Christ is
the power that can keep you from stumbling, remove the bondage. In AA, some
people find that power, but many don’t.
These demons, in other gospels you get the sense they don’t want to get sent
into the abyss, so these demons ask to be sent into the swine that are there.
And then as you read later, this man
goes to the Decapolis. If you’re in
bondage, Jesus can help you from stumbling, he’s the power. There’s no need to be afraid. Fear is
because you don’t understand the power and love of God. But he wants to bring power into your life
and deliver you.
The Whole Region Wants Jesus To Leave, He’s Threatening
Their Pork Livelihood
Verse
17 is a sad thing. The guy who is
taking care of these pigs is thinking, ‘What is going on here?’ as he
sees the pigs running into the water. So he goes back to town and tells them about
everything that happened. So the whole
region came out to see this event. But
what a sad verse, they come out and plead that he would depart from their
region. They’re more concerned about
the money and pigs and things of this world than the things of God. [The Romans would vacation when off duty in
the area of the Decapolis. They had
recreation areas in this region and the demand for pork products must have
been very high making the raising of pigs a very profitable business. And this would explain why this region, a
part of the Jewish nation bordering on the cities of the Decapolis, grew
whole herds of swine.]
This man was naked, cut up and scarred, a sad picture of a man. And now he’s dressed and sitting there in
his right mind. Not strange or
bizarre, just very healed before them. And that same man said, ‘Hey, I want
to go with you.’ But this time
Jesus does something different. Up
until this point he always told the people not to say anything. But in this case he says ‘Go home to
your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and
how he’s had compassion on you.’ And that’s what Jesus tells this man to do. [This is an essential key or part of
spreading the gospel on a personal level, telling others, your friends and
acquaintances what Jesus has done for you.] And this man goes and does what Jesus told
him to do, and many people hear and marvel in the cities of the Decapolis.
The Resurrection Of A Dead Girl
Last
couple of points. Verses 21-43, “Now
when Jesus had crossed over by the boat to the other side a great multitude
gathered to him. And he was by the
sea. And behold, one of the rulers of
the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw him he fell at his feet and
begged him earnestly saying, ‘My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her that she may
be healed and she will live.’ So Jesus
went with him and a great multitude followed him and thronged him.
Now a certain woman had a flow of blood for twelve years and had suffered
many things from many physicians. She
had spent all that she had and was no better but rather grew worse. When she heard about Jesus she came behind
him in the crowd and touched his garment, for she said, ‘If only I may touch
his clothes, I shall be made well.’ Immediately the fountain of her blood was
dried up as she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction. And Jesus immediately knowing in himself
that power had gone out from him, turned around in the crowd and said, ‘Who
touched my clothes?’ But his disciples
said to him, ‘You see the multitudes thronging you and you say Who touched
me?’ And he looked around to see her
who had done this thing. But the
woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had happened to her came and fell
down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith
has made you well. Go in peace and be
healed of your affliction.’ While he
was still speaking some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who
said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why
trouble the Teacher any further?’ As
soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken he said to the ruler of the
synagogue, ‘Do not be afraid, only believe.’ And he permitted no one to follow him except
Peter and James and John the brother of James. Then he came to the house of the ruler of
the synagogue and saw the tumult of those who wept and wailed loudly. When he came in he said to them, ‘Why make
this commotion and weep? The child is
not dead but sleeping.’ And they ridiculed
him. But when he had put them all
aside he took the father and mother of the child and those who were with him
and entered where the child was lying. He took the child by the hand and said to
her, ‘Talitha Koumi!’ which is translated ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise.’
Immediately the girl arose and walked,
for she was twelve years of age, and they were overcome with great amazement.
But he commanded them strictly that no
one should know it, and said that something should be given her to eat.” What a contrast. You have a 12 year overlap. This young girl is 12 years of age and this
lady with an issue of blood has been suffering for 12 years. Initially when it started, she started going
to the doctors, saying, ‘What's going on in my life?’ She tried to get some help and time passed
and more time passed, and eventually it turned out to be years of suffering. And when all this started, this girl was
born, born to this Jairus, a very significant person in the community, some
would say even the chief person in the synagogue, wealthy, influential. So she’s had a blessed life, you could say
of just being in a prosperous and blessed home. But recently she’s had a change of events in
her life as well. She was near the
point of death. God will allow
suffering into people’s lives that will last for years. And God has it for a purpose to his glory. But for some of us life is easier. But the day does come when the storm does
blow. God has a purpose in it. Sometimes life can be easy and then the
phone will ring and a real grave storm will come and you’ll drop to the floor
when you hear what’s being told to you. Something can happen so quickly in some of
our lives. And you see the contrast
here with these two women. Well, with
Jesus you and I do not need to fear suffering. We don’t like pain, but we don’t have to
fear it. We don’t have to be afraid of
men. We don’t even need to fear death.
Paul said in 1st Corinthians
15, ‘Death? Where is the
sting of death?’ We don’t fear
it as a Christian. We’re told in the Psalms
that ‘precious is the death of his saints in the eyes of God.’ And that’s because we’re going to be with
him. He’s waiting to welcome us into
his kingdom. The death of the wicked
he looks on in pain as we read in Ezekiel 33, hoping that they would turn. Jairus comes, he’s been a strong man,
successful, but God is going to do a work in his life and has brought him to
his knees. God works through broken
vessels, so he breaks us sometimes to teach us about his character and power
and love. If you think you’re standing
on your own, woe to you, because you are going to fall. So God keeps us broken. Well Jairus pleads with Jesus, ‘Jesus,
come. My little girl.’ And
this is close to home for a Mom or a Dad when a child is near the point of
death. So he is just hurting, you can
imagine. That’s Jairus, he’s just
burdened. So Jesus goes with him. Jesus has more to teach him. But now he’s finding hope as Jesus is
walking with him. And then
the crowd stops, I would imagine, much to the frustration of Jairus. But there’s this lady and she’s quite the
picture of suffering, has this blood flow for 12 years. She was ceremonially unclean because of that
so she was kept outside away from people because anyone she touched would
become ceremonially unclean (for 24 hours). She’s a lonely lady whose been seeking
answers for 12 years. She’s gone to
people to get help and they’ve taken advantage of her, taking all her money
for cures that didn’t work. The Talmud
had all these recipes for healing and none of them worked. They were just goofy if you were to read
them, strange and bizarre, and none of them have worked. So she’s suffered a long time. And now maybe she’s in fear of man,
untrusting, because of all that’s happened to her. She presses through this crowd understanding
that if she touches Jesus, he will heal her. And Jesus does. (Jesus can heal you at this
very moment if you have an affliction. If he’s not decided to do it, it’s because
he loves you and he’s doing a work in you. But you are right in his loving control.) Well, this lady touches him and she is
healed. And you see the situation
where he turns around and says ‘Who's touched me?’ And the disciples are like, ‘Hey,
there’s people all around. What are
you talking about?’ But this
lady comes and says ‘I’ve done it, you’ve healed me.’ And he says to her, ‘Daughter, your
faith has made you well. Go in peace.’
The two go together, faith and
peace. You walk in faith and you
experience peace. If you walk in fear
you miss out on the peace. Well now Jairus,
you can just imagine, he’s so frustrated. If I were Jairus I would be throwing Jesus
in the back seat of the car and doing 90 down the highway! We wouldn’t be wasting time here for red
lights or anything, we’re going. But
they stop. You can just imagine the struggle going on in his mind. And then the worst thing comes, the people
come from his house and say, ‘Hey, it’s too late. You’ve taken too long. Your daughter has died.’ But Jesus has allowed that for a reason
because he has something very important to show Jairus, and to show us. He says to Jairus, ‘Don't be afraid,
only believe.’ Well as Jesus continues on, he takes a few
of the inner guys and they go into this house. They actually have to go past this group who
in that culture have been hired to just weep and wail. And he goes by and says ‘Hey guys, why
make all the commotion? The child isn’t
dead. The child’s just sleeping.’
[And Paul calls death a sleep. Many might wonder if Jesus were telling a
lie here, but he wasn’t. Paul called
death a sleep when he spoke of the resurrection, because to God, death is
merely a sleep. To the very One who
can raise the dead, death is nothing more than sleep. Jesus was speaking of a higher reality which
this hired crowd couldn’t comprehend.] And if you put the gospels together and in
the Greek tense and everything, they ridiculed him and they continued to do
it as he goes in the house. But he
takes the family and this inner circle of disciples and they go to this bed,
and he reaches to this little girl and he says ‘Talitha Koumi,’
which is ‘Little girl, I say to you arise’ or ‘little
lamb, arise.’ And he speaks
and this little girl who was dead gets up. And they fear, and people just marvel,
overcome with amazement as Jesus raised this dead child back to life again. You know, you and I don’t have to fear
death as God’s kids. God wants to
remind you here that there’s nothing at all in your life, ever, to be afraid
of. There’s some healthy fear--fear of
God, fear of sin, maybe a little fear for a moment where there’s impending
danger and he wants you to realize that. But afraid type fear where you don’t have
faith, you don’t have to have that fear anymore. When you walk by faith you don’t have to
fear the storms, you don’t have to fear suffering, you don’t have to fear
man, his rejections, we don’t have to fear bondage’s of the world, and we don’t
even have to fear death itself. And if
you don’t have to fear death, you and I can walk by faith. And to walk by faith is a life of peace. God wants you to have a peace that passes
understanding.” [transcripts of connective
expository sermons on Mark chapters 1-5, given in a local church in North
Central Massachusetts, I believe around the year 2000]
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