Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

If you were not here last Sunday we took the time to briefly work our way through the beginning of Mark 4 on the parable of the sower.

If you remember, this was a parable delivered to the mass crowds and then further explained to the disciples.

This next section of the chapter was directed not for the masses, but for the few, specifically the disciples.

The next section in this chapter deals with three parables that are directed to the disciples.

It is once again going deeper in the parables and advancing the knowledge of His followers and hopefully your knowledge as we as we all walk on our road of being a follower of Christ.

They are as one person states it,

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 25: Mark (The Manifest Truth)

..... the singular truth about the growth of the kingdom of God, Jesus tells His disciples three other parables that add meaning to the universal principles of the kingdom of God that He presents in the Parable of the Sower.

In other words,

Jesus describes how the Kingdom and his Word are related and how it will be working in all situations and applies that same working in the lives of the followers.

He is continuing in His thought of growth of the seed.

It will grow in our lives today.

Have you ever sat back and looked over your life and tracked your personal growth in the knowledge and faith as you walk as believers?

Has their been moments of spikes of spiritual growth and other times where it has been slow moving like that of a glacier?

What circumstances have been in both of these cases that would make you assess one way or the other.

One of great growth times in my life was in my early 20’s when I was a part of a discipleship group to help us in our spiritual growth as believers.

I was a single young man placed in a group of couples with children.

Socially, I wasn’t a fit for this group, but spiritually it was a perfect match.

It was a time of great growth as we challenged each other in our walk and growth with God.

It was a great time in seeing me grown in the knowledge of God and to be strengthened.

What about you?

Are you a part of anything that is helping you grow in walk with God?

This morning’s passage is going to show us, through the parables given by Jesus to His disciples, ways in which the Kingdom of God grows in our lives.

These parable are of eternal significance.

They were given to the disciples and they are given for us today and for those around us in which we model the life of Christ in our lives.

They are parables you as a follower need to understand.

They been titles the parable of the lamp

The Parable of the Seed growing

and finally the parable of the mustard seed.

Let’s open up God’s Word and read the first parable.

I will be reading from Mark 4:21-25

Let’s Pray

God’s Truth will be made known

One thing is for certain.

God’s Truth will be made known.

This is a parable of how the Word of God will be made known in the lives of His people.

How the Word is illuminated to us.

As I have been working on my basement and having removed all the light fixtures from my ceiling, this example means a whole lot to me right now.

A lamp has a purpose.

Mark’s rendition of this parable varies slightly different from the other two gospels in that there is no reference for the actual lighting of the lamp.

All three gospels had a lamp as the focal part of the parable but the lighting of the lamp is omitted in Mark’s writing.

Scholars have pointed out that the reference of the lighting in Mark’s writing shows that the purpose of the lamp is important and not that it needs to be lit.

It is an allegory parable showing that Christ is the lamp.

He doesn’t need to be lit, but has always been.

Right from the beginning.

Mark wants his readers to know three things when he wrote out these words.

He wants us to know that in the parable that Christ is the light of the world, that Christ is the Revelation of the light, and that this light will bring to light the judgement.

In verse 21 we are given illogical arguments of the purpose of a lamp.

It is used to be a light and not to be hidden or used for another purpose.

When I was younger, in fact a child, my younger sister and I found a different purpose for a lamp.

We thought it was good for a heat source.

One cold wintery day, we took the lamp, placed it under the covers on the bed and then jumped into the bed to stay warm.

We found out quickly that keeping the lamp under the blankets with us was too hot so we removed it, but found the heat left quickly.

We were children and thought if we leave it under for longer, the blankets would be warmer, and we could come back and be under warm blankets.

So we put the lamp under the blankets and went into the other room to wait for the warmth and began watching TV.

I should have a disclaimer right now, Folks don’t try this at home.

I can tell you that it worked.

The bed became very warm, in fact, you guessed it, it caught on fire.

You see a lamp, especially in the day was the source of all light for the household.

He is the Light of the World

Jesus was telling the people in this parable that He is coming and He is the light of the World

The mystery of the Gospel was and is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.

There are many people in this world today looking for answers and we have the answer to their questions.

As I said last week our job is to cast the seed, to sow.

To share God’s Word with others around us.

To tell the story of Christ’s life saving work in our lives so that Others can see Christ.

One person stated,

The truth to be taught is that all other lights which shine upon truth—natural revelation, reason, intuition, experience—are dim reflections from the brilliance of the Son of God.

All truth must be brought in comparison to this light.

Are you searching for truth?

What about what you are reading.

Just because a book is on the best seller’s list, doesn’t mean that it is God’s truth, even if the author has claimed to be a Christian.

All truth must be brought under the light of God’s Word and compared with the truth found in scripture.

He is the light of the Revelation

He also is the light of the revelation.

If you were going to the store to plan to purchase lamps and light fixtures for you remodeled room, would you plan to buy these and leave them in the box in the garage.

When Jesus was speaking this parable, he was announcing the coming of His Kingdom.

Although we are looking back to the time Christ conquered death and rose from the grave, there still is coming a day when He will return in full Glory to usher in His Kingdom.

All the God had reveled to Us through His Word will one day shine forth.

It wasn’t created to be hidden, it was created to be under something, It was created to bring forth Light.

Spiritual Light.

He is the light of Judgement

There is a third thing about light.

It brings to our awareness of the wrong in our lives.

Without light in our lives, there are things that can easily be missed.

Are you looking to Scripture and listening to God speak to you when you have done something wrong?

How do you respond to the urging from the Spirit to change that item in your life?

There is a reminder in this parable, something that all of us should be careful to follow.

Jesus said that with the measure we use the measure will be used us in the end.

Do you follow that Spirit and listen or do you hear, but ignore counting it as trivial or small.

There is a warning in this verse that accountability used now is far greater reward in the end.

put this way,

As in the Parable of the Sower, those who receive the seed under conditions that bring it to full growth reap the benefits of a multiple harvest, but those who reject the seed or lack the qualities to bring it to maturity lose all the value of the truth.

let’s move onto the next parable

Our Growth is a wonder to watch

Our spiritual growth is a wonder to watch.

Have you been in a situation that you can’t imagine how you are going to make it through the struggle and in the end, you look back and see the strength God had given you to be able to walk through that journey.

It’s a wonder to watch.

The wonder of it all