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)
- The light of the world will not be hidden
- 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
- We have to meditate and marinate on and memorize it AND we have to practice doing it
- The lamp
- 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
- God is responsible for the growth and does this work by the Spirit in secret places (1 Corinthians 3:5-8)
- The coming harvest
- There are two common interpretations
- 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
- When we reach full maturity, He will bring us home, and when the Church reaches full maturity, He will rapture it home
- The hardworking farmer recognizes when the harvest is ready to be used for its intended purpose (2 Timothy 2:6)
- There are two common interpretations
- Inward spiritual growth is a work of faith that won’t always make sense to us (Romans 10:17)
- 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)
- The birds nesting in the bush are the enemy. They hide in the bush (Mark 4:15, Ephesians 2:2)
- Mustard bushes grow and take over everything near them
- These truths of our faith are not secrets to be kept (Matthew 10:27)
- v. 21 Jesus is communicating spiritual truths with earthly illustrations
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.