Teacher: Pastor Chet Lowe

Main Scriptures: Mark 4, 2 Timothy 2, James 5

Date of Teaching: November 20, 2022

• Mark 4:21-34
  • v. 21 Jesus is communicating spiritual truths with earthly illustrations
    • These truths of our faith are not secrets to be kept (Matthew 10:27)
      • The lamp
        • The light of the world will not be hidden
          • Jesus is not withholding the Gospel from the world, but preaching it (Mark 1:38)
      • We have to be responsible with the message that has been given to us
        • We have to meditate and marinate on and memorize it AND we have to practice doing it
          • If we don’t use it, we won’t be given more because we’ve proven ourselves irresponsible with the “little” we’ve been given
          • If we share it, we will be given more and more exponentially. What is in you will pour out (Luke 6:38, John 7:38-39)
            • Learning > growing > sharing are a continual cycle
            • They are all imperative and each affects the other
    • v. 26 This parable is only shared in the Gospel of Mark—it must have had a great impact on Peter, whose testimony Mark is recording
      • Inward spiritual growth is a work of faith that won’t always make sense to us (Romans 10:17)
        • Our job is to share the seed, the Word of God, with the soil, the world around us (Matthew 13:38)
        • We are not responsible for how the seed grows (Matthew 16:18)
          • God is responsible for the growth and does this work by the Spirit in secret places (1 Corinthians 3:5-8)
            • Growth is a process, and maturity takes time (2 Corinthians 3:18)
          • Do not give up, but keep taking steps of faith
      • The coming harvest
        • There are two common interpretations
          1. The hardworking farmer recognizes when the harvest is ready to be used for its intended purpose (2 Timothy 2:6)
             • Harvests that aren’t gathered rot and are useless
          2. When we reach full maturity, He will bring us home, and when the Church reaches full maturity, He will rapture it home
    • v. 30 The mustard seed phrase is a Jewish idiom that means the “smallest amount possible” (Matthew 17:20)
      • Mustard bushes grow and take over everything near them
        • The church has grown like this and ministries will only grow like this
      • A warning: The enemy will infiltrate the church
        • The birds nesting in the bush are the enemy. They hide in the bush (Mark 4:15, Ephesians 2:2)
          • This looks like false doctrines (ie: Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonism)
        • God allows this to happen for His intended purpose (Job 1:12, James 5:7-11)

Selah Memory Verse: Mark 4:21 – Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or a bed?  Is it not to be set on a lampstand?

Challenge to Change: Use the holiday season to share what you know on your daily prayer walk.