Discipleship Requires a Lifetime of Growth Part II

Welcome back to our study of the Gospel of Mark, Lessons in Discipleship. And as I like to repeat at the beginning of every lesson, this is a book all about discipleship. In other words, this isn’t a book we turn to to find out how we receive eternal life. If we want to know how a person gets saved we go to the Gospel of John. The book of John was written to unbelievers for the very purpose of getting them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. So, if we are seeking to evangelize unbelievers in our family, or in our workplace, we use the Gospel of John. We encourage them to read the Gospel of John, and throughout the book they will find the one and only condition to receive eternal life. And the one condition is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.

But the Gospel of Mark has different subject matter. This book was written to believers who we being persecuted for the faith, and the subject matter is in large part devoted to the cost of following Christ. As I often point out, the gift of eternal life is absolutely free, but discipleship is not. Which is what we learned last week in the parable of the four soils. As soon as we believe in Jesus a new plant springs up out of the ground, but in order for our plant (our spiritual lives) to remain healthy we must be constantly tilling the soil of our hearts with God’s word. You see, the more we study the Bible we more we grow, and the more we grow the less we care about this life, and the more we look to the next. This keeps those thorns and weeds from growing up which make us unfruitful. And what did we learn the thorns were in last week’s parable?

Mark 4:18–19 NKJV

18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Jesus says the thorns are the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things. You see, this is a discipleship truth. This parable is not intended to determine whether or not a person has eternal life. We know this person has eternal life because because the word of God produced a plant. The plant symbolizes the fact that new life already exists. No this is a warning to believers that they can become distracted by the cares of this world, and if they allow this to happen they become unfruitful. Again, I cannot stress this enough. The point of this parable is not about determining who is saved and who isn’t. This is a parable that warns believers of the pitfalls along the pathway of discipleship. This is a parable that is meant to teach believers that in order to reap eternal rewards when we kingdom comes, we must growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. This is a parable explaining that we need deep roots to endure the suffering, opposition, and persecution that following Christ will bring. This is a parable that teaches we must look to the coming kingdom so that we don’t getting choked about by the cares of this world. Discipleship is a pathway that lasts a lifetime, and it requires a lifetime of growth and perseverance. This is the subject matter in this parable. We might summarize the parable of the four soils this way.

Following the Lord in discipleship, and enduring the same rejection He did, will bring great reward.

Now, that was a brief recap of last week’s lesson and I did that on purpose. I did that because the parable we are going to study today is much like the parable of the four soils. Much like the parable of the soils, in today’s parable we are going to see that growth is essential to discipleship. You see, in order for disciples to be fruitful they must be maturing in their understanding of God’s word. And what we are going to learn to today is that the believer who desires to know more will learn more. In other words, if we listen and apply God’s word to our lives, God gives more understanding. Simply put. We have a responsibility to use and share the knowledge that God gives us. If we do, God gives us more knowledge and understanding. And with more knowledge and understanding comes more fruitfulness, and with more fruitfulness comes a better harvest in Christ’s coming kingdom. So, as we move forward this morning, keep the title of the lesson in mind.

Discipleship Requires a Lifetime of Growth Part II

This is the issue that is speaking to us today. In order to be fruitful disciples we have a responsibility learn God’s word and use God’s word. If we do this, God’s will continue to grow us more, and use us more. But as we will learn in a moment the opposite is also true. If we ignore the Lord’s teaching and live in disobedience, then instead of growing we will wither and become unfruitful. We might express this truth this way. There is no standing still on the pathway of discipleship. We are either moving forward or we are moving backwards.

Ok, let’s go ahead and read our text for today.

Mark 4:21–23 NKJV

21 Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? 22 For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Mark 4:24–25 NKJV

24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. 25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

Let’s pray.

As we begin to dig in to the parable let’s take verse 21 by itself.

Mark 4:21 NKJV

21 Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?

First let’s tackle the basic meaning of Jesus’ questions which beg an obvious answer. A lamp in those days would was a small clay pot filled with oil which had a wick on top. The wick was probably a piece of cloth, which would soak up the oil in the pot and burn continuously. Well a person wouldn’t never bring a lamp into a room and set it under a basket or a bed. That would defeat the purpose of the lamp itself. The lamp was placed or hung on a lampstand in order to shed light into a dark room. In other words, the purpose of a lamp in a very real sense was to reveal things that were previously hidden from sight. That is exactly what a lamp does when it is brought into a dark room. It reveals objects hidden by the darkness. Of course, we know that this is a parable, so obviously Jesus isn’t speaking literally. Meaning, Jesus isn’t talking about a literal lamp here. So here is the million dollar question.

What does the lamp represent?

Now, before I give you my explanation let me say this. There are different views on this and good theologians have great explanations for their views that make sense biblically. However, the view I’ve landed on best fits the context. So, we need to spend a minute here discussing what is happening in Jesus’ ministry at this point. And we need to understand why Jesus is speaking in parables.

Leading up to chapter 4 we’ve seen Jesus have several conflicts with the religious authorities. Well, in the last conflict we read about in chapter 3 some scribes come from Jerusalem, and they accuse Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan. You see, they cannot outright deny that Jesus is performing these miracles, so they say that He is able to perform the miracles by the power of Satan. Well, when this happens there is a clear change in Jesus teaching style. Before this event Jesus was teaching throughout Galilee plainly, but after the religious leaders reject Him, He begins to speak in parables. In other words, He begins to speak in a veiled manner.

So in chapter 4 Jesus begins speaking in parables. Then, after Jesus gives the parable of the four soils the disciples must have been scratching their heads because they come to Jesus asking Him about it. This happens in chapter 4 verse 10.

Mark 4:10 NKJV

10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.

Now notice there are other disciples with Him. It says, “those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.” Now listen to how Jesus responds. He says,

Mark 4:11–12 NKJV

11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’ ”

Now, this is an important point so don’t miss this. Jesus reveals to the disciples why He is speaking in parables. He says, “to you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God”. Again, this is more than just the twelve. These are willing disciples who are open to His teaching, and Jesus is telling these disciples that they were being given additional revelation about the kingdom of God. Simply put, Jesus is explaining to them truths about the coming kingdom that had previously been hidden. You see, they had accepted Jesus’ teaching, and they are being given additional insight into God’s plan. But to the religious leaders , and those who rejected Him, He now spoke in parables. Look at the second part of verse 11, “but to those who are outside, all things come in parables”.

Jesus’ point is simple. All those who have rejected my teaching, will get no more insight. In other words, everything will be spoken in parables so that the truths I am now giving to you (the disciples) will remain veiled or hidden from them.

We might put it this way, the outsiders, religious authorities and all who had rejected His teaching, will no longer be given deeper understanding. Jesus now spoke in parables so that “seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand”. The point of the parables was to veil the truth to those unwilling to receive it, but Jesus was revealing this truth to those willing to hear.

Now you are probably thinking William where are you going with all of this. Well, let me show you how this all ties together. Jesus has just explained that only those with receptive hearts were permitted to know these truths that he was now revealing about the kingdom of God. This mystery of the Kingdom was that the Messiah was going to be rejected, and now a period of time would occur before the kingdom would be setup up on this earth. This was a mystery in the sense that this delay in the kingdom wasn’t revealed in the OT. But now the mystery was being revealed to those who were willing to listen. So, here is the point. This revelation about the coming kingdom, is the lamp. Let’s look back at verse 21.

Mark 4:21 NKJV

21 Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?

You see, when Jesus was explaining these parables to the disciples they were being giving new revelation about the kingdom of God. Jesus was shedding light on things that were previously hidden in the past. So, this new revelation that Jesus was giving to His disciples was the lamp. In a very general sense we could say that the lamp represents the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The lamp symbolizes the teaching of Jesus Christ

So, Jesus is giving His disciples (more than the twelve) some assurances here. He is telling them that He would explain the truths that were being hidden from those who rejected Him. He is saying, “I not speaking in parables to keep these truths hidden from everyone. I am revealing them to you, the people that are willing to receive them”. This is what the first verse means. “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket?” In other words, Jesus is saying I am not giving new revelation to keep it hidden. I not bringing a lamp just to put it under a bowl or a bed. No, I’m putting this teaching on a lampstand so that it will be revealed to you”. Let me give you a summary statement.

By presenting the parables and explaining them to the disciples, Jesus was putting the light on a lampstand so they could see spiritual truths.

Now, there may very well be another truth tucked into this parable that speaks of the great responsibility of receiving such wonderful revelation from the Lord. You see, the Lord was setting HIs teaching on a lampstand for the discipleships so that they could understand. And because the Lord has revealed this teaching to them, they were accountable to respond to His teaching. You see, these truths were not meant to be put under a basket or a bed. The basket in this parable is a bushel basket that may represent business. If this basket does represent business the point would be that we as disciples must properly use the truth that we have received. You see, we cannot let business and money making bury the light we have received. And the same with the bed. The bed may speak of comfort or laziness, which can both hinder how we respond to the light we have been given. The point is clear.

The Lord holds us accountable to use the revelation we have received. We must not let things like money, comfort, or laziness conceal the light we have been given.

In any event, we this much is true. The Lord’s teachings, the lamp, are revealing things previously hidden in the past, and the disciples had a great responsibility to respond to the light and share it. Which is what He says in the next verse.

Mark 4:22 NKJV

22 For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.

Again, I believe these verses contain words of encouragement for the original disciples and us as well. The disciples could have easily gotten the wrong idea. They might have gotten frustrated by the parables, and thought that Jesus was purposely being vague, or they might have thought the parables were too mysterious for them to understand. I know I thought this on many occasions. But the Lord says no. “there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light”.

You see, Jesus was teaching the disciples things about the kingdom of God that were not revealed in the OT. So, here is the major point. The Lord’s teachings were like a lamp that comes and reveals these things to the disciples. Jesus is assuring them that He would tell them all that they need to know and hold nothing back. That is what verse 22 says, “there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed.” Simply put, Jesus is telling His disciples that He would reveal to them the truths contained in the parables. He was speaking in parables so that the willfully blind would not understand, but Jesus doesn’t want that to be the case for His disciples. Therefore, he was putting the light on a lampstand so that previously hidden truths would be revealed to them. In other words, He was explaining it to them so they could understand.

Which brings us to our next verse.

Mark 4:23 NKJV

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Now, there an extremely important principle here that we can apply to our lives. In this chapter, there are four parables, and throughout the parables a single word occurs over and over again. The Greek word is ἀκούω which is translated into English in this chapter using the words listen and hear. Throughout this chapter, 14 times different time, Jesus says, Listen. He says, “If anyone has ears let him hear!” The Lord says, “Take heed what you hear”. The point I want to make is that even as believers we can stop listening and hearing. You see, we can make our mind up about what the Bible says before we know what the Bible actually says. One of the ways this happens is by listening to teaching and never searching the scriptures to see whether these things are actually in the Bible. There are many things I was taught about the Bible that I heard for years, only to find out later that they were nowhere in the Bible.

Here is where I’m going with this, Discipleship is a process of growth. If a disciple wants to grow in his relationship with the Lord, he must pay attention to and meditate on the teachings of the Lord. We must hear. We must listen, and we must obey the Lord’s teachings. This is how we become fruitful plants in the good soil. We must have ears that hear. We must be open minded to the teaching we are receiving in Church, and then go search the scriptures daily to see whether these things be so (Acts 17:11).

Let’s move on to verse 24 and look what word we see occur two more times.

Mark 4:24 NKJV

24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

Did you notice the word hear. “Take heed what you hear”. Then again at the end, “and to you who hear, more will be given”. Again, the key to healthy, productive spiritual lives is determined by what we hear. In other words, our fruitfulness is dependent on learning from the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “Take heed what you hear”. Let’s talk about “Take heed” for a second. In the Greek, that verb carries the basic meaning of “to see”, and it is in the form of a command. So, Jesus is commanding us to “Watch out” for what we hear. The point is, we need to be extremely careful when it comes to studying our Bibles. It is not enough to just assume what we are hearing is true. No, we must receive the teaching with an open mind. Then we need to meditate of the Scriptures, and then we need to obey the teaching. In other words, we need to take the light which we have received and put it on a lamp stand. We need to not only learn about the light, but we need to put that light on display for all the word to see. You see, that is how we become the good fruitful soil that reaps a harvest when the Kingdom does come. I say this all the time, but let me say it again.

The pathway of discipleship begins and ends learning at the Master’s feet.

The heart pictured by the good soil takes heed to, listens to, meditates on, and obeys the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Mark 4:24 NKJV

24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

Now I absolutely love the next part of this verse. I love it. The Lord says, “With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. Let’s talk about the end of the verse first. The Lord says, “you who hear, more will be given”. This should make perfect sense because we are watching this happen in Mark’s account, right? Jesus is explaining His parables to the faithful followers, but the outsiders aren’t given any insight. In other words, they get additional revelation that the others don’t. The others don’t get any further revelation because they will unwilling to hear. This is so important for us because this same principle applies to us today, and it goes back to a point I made earlier.

The Lord holds us accountable to use the revelation we have received. We must not let things like money, comfort, worldly pleasures, or laziness conceal the light we have been given.

You see, hearing in this passage isn’t just receiving the teaching and understanding it. That’s is an important part of it. But after we receive it, we must obey and use it. You see, we must put the lamp on the lampstand for all to see it. We can’t let the light be put under a basket or a bed. This hearing must also include acting on what we learn. And if we do that the Lord makes us a promise.

Mark 4:24 NKJV

24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

He says, “you who hear, more will be given”. The point is that when we are meditating on God’s word and putting it into practice the Lord gives us more and more. In other words we continue to grow, and when we continue to grow we become more fruitful, and when we become more fruitful we will enjoy a better harvest when the Lord returns. Remember the title of today’s lesson.

Discipleship Requires a Lifetime of Growth Part II

Discipleship requires a lifetime of growth, and in order to keep growing we have to keep hearing. Ok, let me point out one more thing about verse 24, and I will start working to close.

Mark 4:24 NKJV

24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

This is probably my favorite part of this whole passage. Jesus says, “with the same measure you use, it will be measured to you”. This is a principle that it easy for all of us to understand because it is true in other areas of our life. We often express this truth like this, “you get out what you put in”. Right. And we understand what that means. It means the effort and diligence we put into to something, usually results in a greater return on our investment. Let me give you a quick example. In college I was a jazz performance major, and it was a competitive environment. And what I quickly learned was that some guys were putting in way more effort that I was. I mean they were practicing in every spare min they had throughout the day. I mean they were spending hours in the practice room, and because they were putting in so much time, they were progressing fasting and learning more than the people who weren’t. Simply put, they were getting out what they put in.

Well, there is a discipleship principle that Jesus gives us here that operates very much the same way. “With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you”. You see, the more we study and meditate on God’s word, the more He will measure out more to us. Simply put, there is a direct connection between how diligent we are with learning God’s word. and our fruitfulness. Let me put it this way. The more effort we put into seeking God, the more He gives of Himself.

The more effort we put into seeking God, the more He gives of Himself

Jesus says, with the measure you use, it we be measured to you. In other words, the more we abandon this world to focus on the Lord, the more light we receive, the more fruitful we are, and the the better harvest we reap. Let me show you how this connects to the parable of the soils.

Let’s look briefly at the good soil, and then I am going to wrap all of this up.

Mark 4:20 NKJV

20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

Not let me point something out. This is the good soil which clearly represents believers, but notice the the harvest among believers is different. Actually it is very different. Some believers produce a harvest that is thirtyfold. Some produce a harvest that is double that, “some sixty”. Then look at the last believer and some “a hundred”. The last example produces a harvest over three times that the first one does. Now, this a parable about the kingdom so these represent rewards given at harvest time or when the kingdom comes. So, the point is clear. There will be varying degrees of rewards given by Christ when we returns. Which leads to the question? Why? Look back at verse 24.

Mark 4:24 NKJV

24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.

“With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you;”. There is a direct connection between our hearing, learning, meditating, and obey the word of God, and how fruitful we become. Faithful disciples could gave all will reap a harvest a 100 fold. We cannot understand that kind of return on an invest. To get back 10 times you money invested in the stock market is an insane return. To get 100 times your original investment is mind boggling. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Man, I cannot tell you how motivating this truth is to me. And I don’t think the benefits of this statement start in eternity. This benefits of this start now. Once we start growing in the Lord and we taste and experience fellowship with Him, we will just want more. And the beautiful thing is… He promises to give us more. I don’t know where we got the idea that at the moment of faith we turn into instantly mature Christians. That is not how it works. God continues to give us more revelation as we respond to what He has already given us. Discipleship requires a lifetime of growth where God gives us more and more and more and more. And I have to tell you it is so worth it. I cannot tell you how differently I see the Bible now as opposed to 15 years ago. I cannot tell you how God has been patient with me giving me more and more and more responsibilites as I responded to the light He was giving. There is nothing in this life that compares to growing in your understanding of Christ. Paul put it this way.

Philippians 3:8 NKJV

8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

Paul gave up everything in the world for the “excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus”. He experienced how wonderful it was to grow more and more and more in the Lord, and He gave up everything. He measured out his entire life, and said, I’ll give that, and it was measured back to Him. I’m confident that Paul harvest will be hundredfold. And listen to this. Paul said, I have suffered the loss of all thing, and count them as rubbish. Rubbish there can mean dung or refuse. Trash that is flung outside to feed dogs. Paul tasted the goodness of the Lord and gave it all.

So, let me wrap up here by asking a question. What measure are you willing to use? What kind of effort are you willing to give so that you can receive more? What is more important to the temporary pleasures of this life or the excellence of the knowledge of Christ that will produce a great harvest in eternity.

Let’s pray.

As we come to our time our response, I want to briefly talk about the last verse in this passage, verse 25.

Mark 4:25 NKJV

25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”

You see “the one who has” is a description of the disciple that is paying attention to what the Lord has taught. This is the believer who is learning and acting upon what he learns. And because of this, he “will be given more”. Simply put, the disciples who desires to know more will learn more. That has been the whole point of today’s message.

But the flip slide of this coin is also true. The Lord says whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him”. The one who does not have is the believer who does not take heed to what the Lord taught. He doesn’t act upon what he has learned. Again, there is a difference between a believer and a disciple. Disciples follow and are learners. If a believer is not learning and listening, then He is not a disciple. Again, it doesn’t mean He is not saved. It means that his life will become unfruitful. It means he will be a stony or thorny soil type of believer. And not only will these believers not be fruitful but they will also regress in the spiritual understanding, as well as their usefulness for God. That is what the Lord says, “even what he has will be taken away from him”. So, again this is talking about a believer. We know it is because Jesus says, “even what he has will be taken away”. The person has something here. They have received revelation, but instead of progressing they are regressing. Please walk away with this.

This disciple who is learning and obeying Christ teachings will be used by God for more and more things. The one who does not will not. The privilege of further service can be taken away. Can people loose their ministries? You bet they can. Sadly, we see it all the time. But before they fall, rest assured they stopped listening and heeding the Lord’s teaching long before that.

So, I will wrap up here asking you the same question I asked last week. What soil are you? The good soil or the unproductive soil? But this week I’m adding another question. Are you learning from the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you straining to understand the word of God? Are you meditating on it? Are you praying for heavenly wisdom? Are you crying out for understanding? And the final question is this? What are you doing with the light you have been given? Are you putting it on display by living according to the Lord’s teaching or have you buried it under work, worldly pleasures and comfort. Please realize this. Christ is coming to reward His faithful servants and if you waste this life on yourself, you will exclude yourself from reigning with the King in eternity.