Do You Hear What I Hear? (Mk. 4:21-25)

Introduction

· Please turn to Mark 4.

· The story is told of a captain out at sea. It was a dark night, and a thick fog was setting in. Off in the distance, he saw the light of another ship, they were heading on a collision course. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message” “Alter your course 10 degrees south.” Promptly a return message was received: “Alter your course 10 degrees north.” The captain was furious; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: “Alter your course 10 degrees south—I am the captain!” Soon another message was received: Alter your course 10 degrees north—I am seaman third class Jones.” Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: “Alter your course 10 degrees south—I am a battleship.” Then the reply came “Alter your course 10 degrees north—I am a lighthouse.”

· The whole purpose of a lighthouse is to shine and warn others. Likewise, in our passage today, Jesus says that the gospel message is like a shining light.

· Read Mark 4:21-25

· In this passage, we see two parables, and along with them, two commands…

You Need to Listen Up

· Lamp (21) – clay oil lamp. On a shelf or lampstand. Power outage last week. Very dark in the girls bedroom, so put a battery operated candle in the bathroom. Didn’t block it.

· Jesus speaking in parables – hidden for now, but eventually to be revealed.

· Responsibility to listen. ‘If anyone has ears to hear, he had better listen!’ (NET translation) Are you listening to this? Really listening? (Message) Common expression to listen carefully. Cf. Mark 4:9 (NET)

· Marriage > Communication > Listening

· Expository Preaching

· Ken Ramey – “Expository Listening.” “A preacher’s commitment to the Lord is to be prepared every week to stand and deliver His Word. Your commitment to the Lord should be to be prepared every week to sit and receive His Word. My goal is to be the best preacher possible. Your goal should be to be the best listener possible. When the preacher does his part and you do your part, God’s Spirit will effectively use His Word to accomplish His purposes in your life.

· Some things you can do to prepare your heart for the ministry of God’s word: Read and Meditate on God’s Word Every Day; Pray throughout the Week; Confess Your Sin; Reduce Your Media Intake; Plan Ahead and Schedule Your Week around the ministry of the word; Be consistent in church attendance; Go to church with a humble, teachable, expectant heart; worship with all your heart. Fight off distractions. Listen with diligent discernment. Prepare the heart and soul.

You Need to Buckle Down

· To ‘buckle down’ means to apply yourself and start working seriously at it. To set to work, apply yourself with determination. At first you were goofing off, but now you really need to ‘buckle down’ and finish well. Listen to how Jesus puts it.

Mark 4:24–25 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

· Here Jesus describes a key prinicple of stewardship. As you are faithful with little, God will give you more. Wtewardship is like a bag of grain that we should not just waste and scatter, but rather place carefully in the bag, all the way to the brim, and pack it down well. And what an embarassment of riches many of us have been given! What a storehouse of God’s truth!

· Warren Wiersbe - “The more we hear the Word of God, the better we are able to share it with others.”

· Deuteronomy 26:16 “This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul.

· Expositor’s Bible Commentary explains this well: “Those who are open and receptive to the message of the kingdom now will receive greater and greater spiritual insight from further teaching. Those who are closed-minded and unresponsive will become more and more blind to spiritual realities. Even the little spiritual perception they have will be taken away.”

· With evangelism, it is often a case of “Use it or Lose it!” Don’t keep this good message to yourself.