7-11-21 The Light of His Face; Mark 4:21-25
Notes
Transcript
We’re back! Last week we looked at the parable of the sower (which is
really the parable of the seed or the soil, technically), and we asked ourselves two
questions; what kind of heart-soil do we have right now, today, and what kind of
heart soil do we want to have moving forward, good or bad? Jesus is a great
gardener, and if we’ll allow Him to, He will cultivate our hearts, soften them, and
turn them into places where His word, His grace, and His love can flourish, grow,
and produce the fruit of the Spirit. In other words, what will come out of us as we
allow Jesus to work on our hearts each day will be love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
This week, we’ll look at another parable of Jesus, the parable of the lamp.
And during this parable, Jesus repeats a phrase He said during the last parable.
How many of you know that if Jesus repeats something multiple times in the same
passage, He probably wants us to get it. He reiterates it because it’s really
important. During the parable of the sower, Jesus said Mark 4:9 NKJV And He
said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” He repeats almost the
exact same phrase shortly afterwards after He tells the next parable. Mark 4:23
NKJV “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” It is vitally important that when
we hear the voice of God, we do what He says with an open heart and a humble
attitude of praise and thanksgiving for who He is and all that He does for us.
And with Jesus’ phrase ‘He who has ears to hear, let Him hear’ in mind, let’s
pray and take a look at this next parable, the parable of the light under a basket.
Father in Heaven, thank you for this time we have together. Holy Spirit, I ask you
to come and manifest Your presence here today. Fall upon us as we open our ears,
our eyes, and our hearts to what You want to say. I ask that you would continue to
glorify Jesus Christ in this place, that You would help us grow in faithfulness,
humility, love and maturity, and that You would fill us with the grace and power we
need to keep growing in You.
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Soften our hearts so that we would love what You love and hate what You hate;
bring Your peace, Your joy, and Your healing to meet every need today as we open
our hearts to You and choose to respond in faith to Your Word. Holy Spirit have
Your way in this place this morning, in Jesus’ Name, amen.
Today the passage is shorter than last week’s - so let’s take a look at the
section and then break it down. Mark 4:21-25 NKJV 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.” 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.”
I don’t know about you, but I feel like most of the time I hear someone talk
about this scripture about the lamp under the basket, the interpretation and
application always goes this way: the light represents the gospel, the good news
about Jesus. And as good Christians, we shouldn’t put the good news under a
basket. In other words we shouldn’t keep the message to ourselves; we need to tell
lots of other people about Jesus and the gospel and then we’ll be letting our light
shine and setting it on a lampstand where people can see how bright the light of
Jesus is and come to Him.
It’s basically an evangelistic message, or a message to help inspire us to go
share the gospel because the Bible says to. Has anyone ever heard this passage
talked about that way before? The church has a lot of songs about this theme too (if you grew up in church) Shine by the Newsboys, Arise Shine (for light has
come), Shine, Jesus, Shine, and more. Anyone?
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Now I’m not putting that interpretation of this passage down. Of course it's
true, we should be sharing what we have found in Jesus with other people. 2
Timothy 4:5 TLB Stand steady, and don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord.
Bring others to Christ.” It’s a good thing to tell others about Jesus as the Lord
leads. The hope is that over the course of conversation with someone God will give
us opportunities to talk about Him, or as they see our lives, how we live and love
that they will ask questions about why we operate that way, why we love them,
why we care.
And this idea totally comes from Jesus. In Matthew’s account of this
parable, He quotes Jesus Matthew 5:14-16 NKJV “You are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put
it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the
house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven.
I don’t have time to go into a study of the differences between Jesus saying
this phrase during the sermon on the Mount and the passage here in Mark. It
doesn’t really matter that much, because, like I said, that interpretation is totally
legitimate and correct. But I think that Jesus was saying a lot more than just ‘go
talk about Jesus’ in this parable. It goes a lot deeper than that if we care to look.
Today I want us to talk a little more in depth about the lamp and what it
means to us. As you read the Bible, you’ll see that lamps appear a lot (or shine?)
in both the Old Testament and the New. And one thing that a lamp stands for is the
message of repentance and salvation that God has brought us through Jesus Christ.
This goes with the interpretation I just mentioned. How do we know? Because the
Bible says that John the Baptist was a lamp. John 5:35 HCSB John was a
burning and shining lamp, and for a time you were willing to enjoy his light.”
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When the Bible says that John was a lamp, it doesn’t mean he stood there
and held a torch at night. It means that his message of repentance and
reconciliation to God is the starting point for a relationship with God. And we
don’t want to stifle the message of repentance, put it under a bushel or a basket,
cover it up, or quit talking about it because it’s important. It’s very important that
we do all we can to direct people away from hell and eternal death into eternal life
in Jesus Christ.
Sadly, there are some churches where the message of John the Baptist, the
message of repentance (both when we come to Jesus initially for salvation and
when we mess up as His followers and need to clear the air to return to deep
fellowship and intimacy) is completely left out. It never gets talked about. And
when that truth is neglected, it creates a false gospel, this weird message that says
we’re basically good already as humans, and God invites people to heaven with no
questions asked as long as we want to go there instead of the other place. It's
actually a message of secular humanism, not of Christianity because it says we
don’t need a Savior, we don’t need God to be holy, moral, good, or saved.
The problem is that this version of the gospel without repentance of sin
totally discounts Jesus, His work on the cross, the deep love that God has for you,
me, and the entire human race, and God’s hatred of things that hurt people. And
that’s without even bringing up the fact that hell is a real place and people will go
there if they don’t repent, or ask God for forgiveness of sins, turn to Jesus and
follow Him. When that message is left out, the lamp of John the Baptist, the light
of his message of repentance and forgiveness is totally covered up by a bushel and
not talked about.
My point here is that we never want to forget the way we came into
relationship with Jesus - by repentance of sin and forgiveness by the cross.
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And we never want to forget to live and walk in a lifestyle of repentance,
shifting and turning as God makes us mature and speaks to us by His Spirit and His
Word. Maybe you’re here today and you’ve never told God you’re sorry for
missing His moral standard, for failing to be perfect, for sin and never accepted
Jesus as Your Savior. If so, don’t let another day go by without calling out to God,
telling Him you’re sorry and accepting His free gift of grace, mercy, love, and
eternal life through Jesus Christ. Many of us here would be happy to lead you in a
salvation prayer after service if you fall into that category.
But one application of the parable of the lamp is that the light of the
salvation message, the message that repentance is necessary to have a relationship
with the Perfect, Most Holy God of the Universe who created all things is
sometimes covered up, and that’s a problem. Another thing the lamp can represent
is God Himself. By that I mean the Bible says that Jesus is a lamp, and if we’re not
careful, we can cover Him up, we can stifle what He wants to do in us and through
us and stop all of the growth and outflow He wants us to walk in.
In Revelation, John writes about the new Jerusalem. The new Jerusalem is
the eternal dwelling place of God’s people. It can represent both the church now
and where we’ll go in the future. It’s where God’s people can live in unbroken
fellowship with Him.1 Revelation 21:23 NLT “And the city has no need of sun or
moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light.”
So, first, we don’t want to cover up the salvation message in our lives, but
we also don’t want to cover up the light of Jesus Christ in us! Yes, we shine our
lights - but that is actually Jesus shining Himself through us by the power of the
Holy Spirit!
1
Hayford, Jack W., editor. New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, NLT, P1719, footnote on 21:1,2. Nashville, TN, Thomas Nelson, 2013.
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Jesus is greater than John the Baptist; The lamp and message of Jesus, of
who He is, shines brighter than the message of John the Baptist and who he is. And
the light of Jesus, or His lamp within us, shouldn’t be covered up!
To say that in a different way, I mean that once we’ve come to salvation and
begin walking with Jesus, we shouldn’t shrink back, we shouldn’t allow our
relationship with God to get old, stale, or boring. We should let God’s light shine in
our hearts so we can bask in the glow of His love, His healing touch, His peace,
joy, and new, resurrection life, available to us right now as long as we don’t put it
under the basket of our victim mentality, our pride, our comfort, our reputation, our
greed, or whatever heart attitudes or fleshly desires pop up in opposition to it.
Remember that God wants the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our hearts. If you
forgot about your high school science class, I’m sorry in advance; but plants,
especially those plants that produce fruit, need sunlight to grow. The sun provides
energy through light radiation. This light energy helps plants grow by providing
them with the power to convert carbon dioxide into sugar, which is how they
develop and produce fruit.2
And the light coming from Jesus' face, the prefect, holy, loving, Lamb of
God does the same thing to our hearts; it provides energy so good spiritual fruit can
grow and develop in the soil of our heart. If we look back at the scripture where
Jesus said that John was a light, He goes on to say that He Himself is a greater
light. John 5:35-36 NKJV He [John] was the burning and shining lamp, and you
were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. 36 But I have a greater witness
than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very
works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. [...]
2
UCSB ScienceLine. UCSB ScienceLine, 3 11 2014, http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=4646.
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39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life;
and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me
that you may have life.
In other words, it’s Jesus and a relationship with Him that gives life. Jesus is
the light that provides life; He provides everything we need to have new, eternal
life right now. Repentance and accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior is, of course, the
starting point. We have to receive the seed of the kingdom of God. But it’s only by
walking with Jesus daily, letting His light shine on us and over us and into our
hearts; it is through continual relationship with Him that we are able to ‘keep the
light on’ so to speak, and to grow the fruit of the Spirit.
Jesus said not to put the lamp under a basket. Don’t put Jesus-in-you under a
bushel. Don’t cover Him up, don’t censor Him. Mark 4:21 NKJV 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? Yes, the lamp represents Jesus. But it also represents the Holy
Spirit. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is the One who lives within us. We don’t
have time today to do an in-depth study of the Trinity, where they all live and how
they are separate personalities but the same and in unity as One. The tri-unity of
God is one of the greatest divine mysteries there is.
The nature of God cannot be translated into a simplistic formula anymore
than the ocean can be transferred into a teacup. When the apostles began to preach
the gospel and write epistles, they didn’t waver in declaring The Father, Jesus, and
the Holy Spirit as God. But they also viewed the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit as
One.3
My entire point of bringing up the Trinity is just to say that when the lamp
refers to Jesus, it’s also referring to the Holy Spirit.
3
Duffield, Guy P., and Nathaniel M. Van Cleave. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology, P73-77. vol. 1, Los Angeles, CA, Foursquare Media,
1983, 2016. 2 vols.
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We also see repeatedly in the Bible the Holy Spirit is often symbolized by
fire. Remember how tongues of fire came on the disciples when they received the
Holy Spirit at Pentecost? Yes, we do receive the Holy Spirit at salvation for
sanctification and to lead us deeper into relationship with Jesus, but there is also a
separate baptism into the Holy Spirit unto empowerment, witness, boldness, and
increased anointing for daily spiritual service.
I love what Charles Spurgeon said about this verse about putting the lamp
under a bed; he said, “If [the lamp] were put under a bed, it would set the bed on
fire! And so, if you have true grace in your heart, there is nothing that can smother
its light; the fire and the light together will force their way out.”4
We talk a lot here about how the word ‘ministry’ actually means an
overflow; it’s the outflow of what God has done in us escaping from our hearts in
our day-to-day lives. And as the Holy Spirit is allowed to have His way in us, He,
with His tongues of consuming fire, falls upon us and causes us to share the light
of God’s presence and the warmth of His gaze with everyone we come into contact
with because there’s nothing else we can do!
If we think of the light, or the lamp, as the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus
Christ living in us, how much more will we want to avoid covering Him up! 1
Thessalonians 5:19 AMP “Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the
working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit.” Jesus' message of the lamp is
repeated here in 1 Thessalonians; don’t be unresponsive to the work of the Holy
Spirit in You, don’t allow your heart to get rocks or stones in it, don’t starve the
fruit of the Spirit by depriving the seeds of God’s light. If you do, the bed might
catch on fire and burn your entire house down! How do we stop that from
happening? Well, we look to Jesus.
4
Spurgeon, Charles. Mark: A Trusted Commentary, P52. David Turner. Scribd,
https://www.scribd.com/read/371706495/Mark-A-Trusted-Commentary.
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The lamp represents the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God Himself, but it
also represents what we look at, or what we fill our vision with. In other words, a
lamp also represents our eyes. This is only halfway referring to our physical eyes;
but our eyes represent what we see, what we look at, what we take in, where we
go, and what we desire. Jesus says Matthew 6:22 AMP “The eye is the lamp of the
body; so if your eye is clear [spiritually perceptive], your whole body will be full
of light [benefiting from God’s precepts].”
Remember, the big theme is ‘he who has ears to hear, let him hear.’ The
point is that if we continue to look at Jesus, and keep our eyes on Him, it will fill
our entire body with His grace and glory, including our eyes and ears. We’ll be able
to see Jesus better and hear Him better, too.
Some ways we cover the lamps of our eyes come through the media we take
in. What are you looking at consistently? Do you have your eyes on Jesus
consistently or something else? Does what you look at feed the fire of the burning
lamp or does it put a bushel on top of it? Another way we can cover up our eyes is
by what we look forward to. What kinds of activities do you wait for in
anticipation and get excited about?
Now, I’m not saying that we can’t anticipate vacations, time with family,
outings, downtime, or other fun activities. I’m just saying that ultimately our
anticipation, expectation, and what we really want to be looking forward to is Jesus
Christ and His coming. Titus 2:12-14 NLT “And we are instructed to turn from
godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom,
righteousness, and devotion to God, 13 while we look forward with hope to that
wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be
revealed.” You will see a theme repeated here in Titus - we first turn from our sins
and repent (baptism of John), and then come to Jesus to receive life, and then live
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our lives full of the Holy Spirit while we continue to look at and anticipate the
return of Jesus in physical form.
Remember, where we are going with our lives is very important. I said it last
week; but God is not so much interested in who you are right now, today, as He is
interested in who you are becoming. Jerry Cook said it this way - “as a pastor, I am
not in the least concerned about who you ought to be. I am concerned with who
you truly are in Jesus Christ. I want to help you live out the new you. It’s natural.
It’s so natural, it’s supernatural!”5 The point is that we need to focus our eyes on
what we’re becoming, on who we are in Christ, on the light of God found in Jesus
and the Holy Spirit.
A few last things that lamps symbolize in Scripture before I move on; a lamp
symbolizes spiritual readiness. Luke 12:35 ESV “Stay dressed for action and keep
your lamps burning.” In other words, don’t stifle your ability to be ready to do
what God wants you to do - keep your light shining and your lamp burning. Lastly,
a lamp can symbolize the word of prophecy. 2 Peter 1:19 HCSB “So we have the
prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a
lamp shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in
your hearts.”
The prophetic word being talked about here is from God the Father, in
Matthew 17:5 NKJV While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is
My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” It’s a reiteration of the
same message again - if we have ears to hear, then let’s really do the best we
possibly can to listen to what God is trying to tell us!
5
Cook, Jerry. The Holy Spirit: So...What's the Big Deal?, P61. North Charleston, SC, CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2013.
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Now all of this talk about lamps leads Jesus into His next statement in Mark.
You might have caught His meaning in context from that passage in Titus about
how one day our hope, Jesus Christ, will be totally revealed for everyone to see,
not just us who have our eyes focused on Him right now. Jesus says, Mark 4:22
NKJV “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything
been kept secret but that it should come to light.”
Let me tell you what Jesus does NOT mean. He doesn’t mean that He is
going to completely expose every bad thought you’ve ever had, every secret sin
you’ve ever done, and every other way you’ve failed.
Remember, in context we’re talking about seeds and lamps, not the final
judgment day. God will judge those who don’t put their faith in Christ based on
everything they have ever done. But He won’t judge believers that way. 1 John
2:12 AMP “I am writing to you, little children (believers, dear ones), because
your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake [you have been pardoned and
released from spiritual debt through His name because you have confessed His
name, believing in Him as Savior].”
God does not go back on His word. You don’t need to be scared today
because of this verse that Jesus is going to expose all the areas of your life that you
don’t have completely together and expose your failures to everyone when you get
to heaven. Not gonna happen.
No, in this passage Jesus is talking about the hidden things of God. His
hidden truths and all of the amazing and awesome things about who God is and
what He’s done and how He operates. And all of the mysteries of God will be
revealed, the ultimate truth that Jesus is the One, True, Almighty God will come to
light, and His glory and majesty will shine forth to give us eternal life and light.
After God fulfills His great and precious promise to show Himself to
everyone, after God reveals Himself, the fullness of His plans in us and for us, and
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the purpose of life, time, space, and eternity for all to see, (our purpose is to love
God and worship Him forever), everyone on earth will see and know the Ultimate
Truth and bow before the King of Heaven. Philippians 2:10 GNT “And so, in
honor of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world
below will fall on their knees.”
And as the people in Jesus’ day are listening to Him speak about how all the
mysteries of God will eventually be revealed and try to start wrapping their heads
around what He’s actually saying, Jesus adds something. He adds something about
the way we listen to Him, about the way we hear God. Mark 4:24-25 NKJV 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.”
Why would Jesus talk about stewardship, or what we do with what we hear,
after talking about how God is eventually going to reveal Himself to everyone one
day? Because if we don’t listen to what God says, if we don’t steward His word to
us, if we close our ears to what He’s saying, then we miss out on His presence, we
miss out on His light. We miss out on the abundant, vibrant, new life He offers in
the light of His face. We have to live without His presence!
You may remember the story of Jonah - I don’t have time to go into it all
today; but God told Jonah to do something. He told Him to go preach to the city of
Nineveh. It was a city full of people Jonah hated, and so he didn’t obey. He ignored
God’s voice and didn’t steward what God said. And when he did that, he was no
longer in God’s presence.
When we disobey, when we don’t heed, when we ignore what God has said
to us, we’re actually fleeing, running from God’s presence! Jonah 1:3 ESV “But
Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to
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Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down
into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.”
God spoke to Jonah and he ignored it. I don’t want to disobey, and I don’t
want to live away from the presence of God. God spoke to Jonah with His voice,
but when Jonah didn’t heed God’s voice, or pay close attention to what God was
saying, God then spoke to him through circumstances. If you feel like you’re not
hearing His voice today, maybe you need to look at your circumstances and see if
you can gain any insight through them. Has God spoken anything to you that you
haven’t obeyed? What’s the last thing God told you to do that you didn’t do? Go
back to the last thing God told you to do and do it! We have to be good stewards
and obey when God speaks. Take heed how you hear!6
I will add it’s also important to keep a proper, God-centric perspective on
what we hear. You might hear something like, “You’re going to minister to
thousands,” Or, “I’m going to use you to minister to people struggling with
[whatever]. Ask yourself, as you think about God’s word, are you putting the
emphasis on yourself or on other people? Joseph told his dream about being in
charge of his family to his brothers and it was actually a dream from God. By the
way, dreams aren’t always from God, but sometimes they are.
God can speak to us in dreams. That doesn’t mean every dream is from God.
But in this case, God wasn’t telling Joseph his brothers were going to serve him.
He was telling him that he was going to be in leadership. Do you understand the
difference? One is all about being served, the other is about serving. I’ve said this
before; but to quote Robert Morris, “Leadership in the kingdom is not about how
many people you can get to serve you! It’s about how many people you can serve!”
6
Morris, Robert. “Steward His Spoken Word.” Sermon 6 of a 7-part Series: Frequency. Gateway Legacy Library, Gateway Church, 4 June 2016,
https://app.gatewaylegacylibrary.com/legacy-library/2/sermon/1621. Pastor's Notes.
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And so today, I want us to close by taking some time to listen. God has
given us His light, He has brought us into His kingdom for His purposes and His
plans. He wants us to share His light with others by the overflow of who we are
and by the growth of His fruit of the Spirit in us. And so the question today is;
what is God speaking to you that you need to heed today? What are you hearing?
How are you interpreting it today? Have you been living in the light of His
presence and allowing His fruit to grow in You?
God may speak words of comfort, peace, or affirmation to you today. He
might be telling you to do something specific in your life or circumstances, He
might put someone on your heart to reach out to or to pray for. He might show you
an area where you’ve been messing things up so you can repent and move forward
in a different direction. Whatever it is, listen to His voice, obey, and invite His
presence to come, invite Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit again so you can bask
in the light of His glory and love.
I want you to stay seated for now as I sing this song over us. The words will
be on the screen, and you can sing along if you want to; but I would really prefer
that you take this as a time of reflection and a time to focus on hearing from the
Holy Spirit. You may want to close your eyes and/or take a posture of prayer. Then
after the song, I’ll pray and Pastor Autumn will come and share what’s on her
heart. OK?
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