The faith of the gospel, Mark 4:35-41

As we come to this passage before us in our ongoing study of Mark, we find that the Lord Jesus and His disciples are at the end of a very long, tiring day.  Jesus has been teaching and healing all day long, and the crowds were pressing against Him, and thronging Him to the point that He could not teach, so He had entered into a boat by the shore and taught them in parables.  

Now we spent the last couple of weeks talking about these parables that Mark records for us.  And I don’t want to go back over them in detail.  However, it’s noteworthy that these parables in this chapter are the only ones that Mark records for us.  Yet we know from the other gospels that Jesus taught more parables than these.  Mark, however, only includes these five, yet he indicates in verse 33 that there were many such parables that He taught.  

And it’s important that we remember the purpose of parables.  Why did Jesus use them as a means of teaching?  Well, contrary to normal intuition, He used parables not so much to illustrate the truth, as to veil spiritual truth in a natural illustration.  As we have pointed out repeatedly, there is a necessity for spiritual illumination in order to understand the spiritual truth of a parable.  So that the principle is that to him who has, more shall be given.  In other words, he who has spiritual illumination, spiritual life, receives more spiritual illumination.  But to him who does not have, they hear, but they don’t understand.   

So Jesus said to them in vs.24, ““Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”  Now that sounds as if Jesus is speaking in riddles.  And perhaps He is to some degree.  But here is what He is saying; By your hearing of the word, you come to believe.  And when you believe what you have heard, then more truth will be given to you.  But if you hear the word and do not believe in the truth, but reject the truth, then what you have will be taken away from you.  What insight you have been given, will be taken away.  God will take the spiritual illumination which was given to you away because you did not believe it.  

So take care what you listen to.  He isn’t necessarily saying, “be careful not to listen to false teaching.”  Though that may definitely play a part in rejecting the truth.  But be careful to listen carefully.  That’s why twice Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”  If you have spiritual ears to hear, be careful to listen to it.  Take care of what you hear.  Don’t let it go in one ear and out the other.  But think on these things.  Ponder the truth of God in your heart.  And then of course, act upon that truth.  That obedience to the truth is an essential part of believing.  

Be careful what you listen to because as Romans10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”  Your faith is dependent upon what you hear, and how carefully you hear.  Faith comes by hearing the word of Christ, ie, the truth of the gospel.  

Now in that context we come now to the final section in this chapter, and though it seems rather biographical than doctrinal as the other sections were, yet it is tied to the previous passages by this principle of faith.  Faith is really the lynchpin of our salvation, is it not?  The word faith has only been used by Mark one other time up to this point in his gospel.  And interestingly enough, it is found in reference to the forgiveness of sins.  Back in chapter 2, we have the account of the four friends who brought in the paralytic and it says that Jesus, seeing their faith, said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  There is a principle in Biblical interpretation, what is called hermeneutics, which is known as the principle of first mention.  If you want to understand how to view a term that’s used in the Bible look at how it’s first used.  And the word faith’s first mention in the gospel of Mark is in reference to the forgiveness of sins.  Forgiveness of sins is called justification in theological terms.  Faith is essential then to salvation.  Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  Faith and belief then are synonymous.  As in Romans 4:9, speaking of Abraham’s saving faith says, “FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”  Faith produced Abraham’s justification.

So be careful what you listen to because faith comes by hearing, and salvation comes through faith.  And through salvation comes spiritual life.  And spiritual life is the way of life that Jesus promises to those who believe in Him.  That spiritual life, where we are made spiritually alive and receive the Spirit of Truth in us, is the more that will be given to those who believe.

Now the disciples had by this time received spiritual illumination.  And they were following Jesus as the source of life and truth.  They were trying to understand the things which He was teaching them privately, that is the spiritual truth of the parables.  But here in this last section, Jesus is going to give them a personal illustration, a physical experience to help them to understand this spiritual principle or doctrine of faith.  Sometimes that is a great way to learn.  We can learn things theoretically, but when we learn by experience then we really learn.  However, experience can be a hard teacher.  I will say to you young people especially, life isn’t long enough to learn everything by experience.  If you are wise, you won’t learn things the hard way, you will learn through teaching.  But in this case, Jesus is going to teach them by experience and though it’s a tough lesson, it is an essential one which I hope we can learn as well through their experience.

So as the day turns to evening and night falls, according to Matthews gospel in chapter 8:16, Jesus without even getting out of the boat tells the disciples to push off and take them to the other side of the lake.  This is the Sea of Galilee.  It’s really a lake and not a sea, but it was called both in those days.  So it’s evening, it’s getting dark, and they set sail for the other side, and a few other boats, presumably filled with disciples as well, follow them.

The point must be made here that Jesus knows what’s going to happen before it happens.  So Jesus knows that a storm is going to occur.  And yet He deliberately sends them out into an impending storm. The storms and trials of a Christian are not meant to tempt us, but to teach us. As the hymn writer says in “How Firm A Foundation”, “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace all sufficient shall be thy supply.  The flames shall not hurt thee, I only design, thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.” The trials of the Christian are intentionally produced by God to refine us and teach us.

Many commentators have given testimony to the violent nature of the storms that can come suddenly down from the mountains upon this lake.  And though it’s a lake and we don’t normally associate huge waves with lakes, yet in this particular lake the storms are well documented as being particularly vicious, especially due to the fact that it is over 600 feet below sea level encircled by mountains and hills.   I am not going to try to explain it further, but I will just say that it is a verifiable phenomenon that happens even today.  

So Mark says that Jesus and the disciples leave the crowds.  Once again we see a pattern here of the crowds following in a sort of superficial manner, and thus not receiving the deeper spiritual truth that was given to His close disciples privately.  The crowds were interested in seeing some sort of miracle, were interested in the entertainment aspects of Jesus’s ministry, but they are not interested in learning deeper spiritual truth.   And so the light which they had, which was Jesus, was taken away from them.  He leaves them on the seashore and puts out into the lake in the dark of the evening with the disciples, with whom He will teach a greater lesson.

Another important lesson in this event is that though we will certainly see the divinity of Christ displayed at the end of this event, we also see the humanity of Christ displayed at the beginning.  Jesus is so tired, humanly speaking in His body, that He falls fast asleep in the bow of the boat and sleeps soundly through what must have seemed like hurricane force winds to the disciples.  I don’t think He is faking sleep in order to make a point.  I think He is completely exhausted.  It’s important to remember that Jesus was fully God and fully man.  He was not half God and half man.  But fully human and fully divine.  As Hebrews 4:15 tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”   Jesus got tired.  I would suspect that Jesus got sick.  Jesus knew grief.  He had by this time lost His step father Joseph.  Jesus grew hungry.  He was thirsty.  He got dirty and had to take a bath, just like all men.  Yet though He suffered in the flesh as a man, He was without sin.  He was righteous in all that He did. This composition of divinity and humanity is what theologians call the hypostatic union of Christ.  He was fully God and fully man.  And we see that illustrated here in this chapter. Thus He is able to save us completely, not only as our substitute who died in our place, but in His role as our Great High Priest who ever lives to make intercession for us at the right hand of the Father.

So sometime soon after the disciples set sail, a severe storm arose on the lake. It reminds me of that old hymn, “The weather started getting rough,  the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost, the Minnow would be lost.”  Whoops, I think that’s the wrong song.

No, actually the fearless crew were not that courageous in the midst of this storm. These were seasoned commercial fishermen who were piloting this boat, and they are in fear of losing their lives.  I suppose that this storm was worse than anything they had ever encountered before. There is some speculation among some commentators that this was a demonically induced storm.  I don’t know if that’s true or not.  The Bible doesn’t seem to say explicitly whether or not the devil can manipulate the weather.  I am inclined to think that he can.  I’ve endured far too many instances of adverse weather when I was trying to conduct a church service or a church outreach when the weather just got crazy.  So I’m inclined to think that he can, but I cannot be dogmatic about it.  But even if he can influence the weather, that doesn’t mean that every time we get bad weather it’s of the devil. However, I will say that the Bible says that the devil is the Prince of the power of the air.  And you can infer from that whatever you may like.

And I will also say that considering where Jesus and the disciples were headed, the other shore being the country of the Gerasenes where the demoniac lived among the tombs, it is entirely plausible that Satan knew that his dominion was under siege by the Lord, and as a result threw everything he could at them in order to try to discourage Jesus and His disciples.  

You know, there are a lot of times that we go through trials, and we don’t know if they are of God or they are of the devil.  Consider Job.  His trials were definitely through the agency of Satan, but they were ultimately under the authority of God.  And so I think that is something we need to learn.  Not necessarily trying to go about binding Satan so that we don’t have trials, but rather learning, as Shadrach, Meshak and Abednago did, that God may allow an evil prince to put you in the fiery furnace, but the Son of God will be with you in the flames.  

Well, I don’t need to embellish the story.  I think Mark makes it clear what happened.  So we see Jesus awakened by His panicking disciples.  And notice what they say to Him. “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”  Notice they don’t cry out “Help us!”  But rather accuse Him of indifference.  I think that right there Satan accomplished his goal.  That was the point of Satan’s temptation of Eve.  That God didn’t really care about their needs or desires.  That God was uncaring.  And I can tell you from experience that is where my failures of faith often lie.  When God doesn’t do what I want Him to do in the time frame that I want Him to act, then I find myself accusing Him of not caring.  Of indifference.  Not that He doesn’t know about my problems.  But that He doesn’t care.  In fact, knowing that He knows about my problems and doesn’t seem to act immediately to rectify them seems to me the height of indifference.  

But of course, Jesus does care.  He does sympathize with our weaknesses, with our trials, and with our heartaches.  He not only is aware of our pain, but He shares our pain.  The Bible says in Romans 8:26 “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”  Some people think that is referring to speaking in tongues.  No, far from it.  It’s talking about the Spirit of Christ who is in us, groaning in us as He emphasizes with our heartaches. Jesus knows our hearts.  He knows our thoughts.  His thoughts toward us outnumber the sand on the sea shore. Nothing can separate us from His love towards us.  He is faithful, even when we are faithless.

So Mark says that Jesus wakes up, and rebukes the wind.  Notice how Mark says in in vs39, And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.  He rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.”  The fact that Jesus rebuked the wind gives credence to the idea that it was a demonically produced wind.  The words he used here are exactly the same words he used when he rebuked the demon that interrupted his discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum, as recorded in the first chapter of this book. 

And it’s interesting to notice the order.  First He rebuked the wind.  Did you know that waves are caused by wind?  Those of us that are surfers we know that we get waves from storms many hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of miles away.  We can have great waves here in Delaware with beautiful weather from a storm a thousand miles away.  The key component is what they call fetch.  It’s the tract of water over which the wind blows.  And if it blows in our direction long enough, over a broad enough fetch, then we will get waves that will travel many miles to reach our shores.  It causes what’s called a groundswell.  Well, this lake is only about 18 miles long, so it’s not got a lot of room for a prolonged fetch, but the waves are still caused by the wind.  

The thing is that though the wind stops, the waves won’t immediately stop.  The waves will continue to move because the wind imparts energy into the water. But Jesus rebukes the cause of the wind, and then He tells the waves to be still.  And Mark says that the lake became perfectly calm.  That’s not natural, but rather a supernatural occurrence which is not lost on the disciples.

So Jesus rebuked the wind, but He mildly chides the disciples.  I don’t think that the text indicates He rebuked the disciples.  I think He rebukes the devil.  But He chides the disciples for their lack of faith.  Notice what He says, ““Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” In Matthew’s gospel He says that they have little faith.  I think the thought is the same.  He is accusing them of an immature faith.  They have had faith in what they can see.  But they don’t yet have faith in what they can’t see, or they can’t explain.  

And I think this is the whole point of the exercise.  It is to get them to see by faith what they cannot see by sight.  Faith is believing.  And though they have believed what they could see, Jesus’s humanity, His power, His teaching, His ability to do miracles, to speak divine truth, they now need to be given a greater measure of belief.  Belief in what they cannot see.  What they cannot understand.  Faith, according to Hebrews 11:1, is the  substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  And by faith, the men of old gained approval from God.  

Faith then is not what you can touch or see, or hold in your hand and examine.  But faith is believing in what you cannot see, even what is hoped for, that which cannot be seen. Faith is the means of spiritual illumination. It is the means by which we see that which cannot be seen, that which is spiritual truth.  And that faith is the essential component of our salvation.  By faith, Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.  He was justified by faith.  He was saved by faith in the Old Testament, and we are saved by faith in the New Testament.  And that faith is comprehended in Jesus Christ.  Believing in who He is, who He claimed to be, and what He did for us. That constitutes saving faith. 

Now the disciples see the result of this miracle, and their response is to move from one fear to another fear.  Notice, vs 41 “They became very much afraid and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’”  Well, Mark doesn’t answer their question, because the answer should be obvious.  The wind and the sea obey Jesus because He is the Maker of the wind and the sea.  John 1 says, He was the Word, and all things were made by Him and without Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  And Hebrews 1 says “in these last days God has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” 

So the disciples become fearful not because of the storm any longer, but because God was in their boat.  And when that realization dawned on them, then their spiritual enlightenment, their spiritual walk took a quantum leap forward.  They will still have doubts from time to time, they will still have weaknesses, but when you know the God of the Universe is with you, then there is a comfort and assurance and power that comes with that that supersedes the trivial trials of this world.  

Listen, it’s natural to feel fear in certain times of trial.  The Psalmists cry out to God in the fear and anxiety again and again.  Psalm 10:1, "Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in the midst of trouble?" Or Psalm 44, "Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord, why do You hide Your face.”  And lest we think that such despair is sinful, remember Jesus Himself quoted the Psalm when He cried out,  “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?”  Fear is a natural occurrence.  And I don’t think that it is necessary sinful.  

I remember hearing of a battle hardened soldier who said something to the effect, that everyone in battle feels fear.  Courage is not a lack of fear.  Courage is doing what is necessary even though you feel fear.  When we find ourselves in a spiritual battle we may feel fear as we encounter things that seem beyond normal.  They may even seem demonic.  But though we may feel fear, we need not react in fear, but take courage that Jesus has promised to be with us in the trials and storms of life.  And He will never leave us nor forsake us.  We have been given life through His death, because of God’s immense love for us.  So nothing can hurt us without going through the hand of God.  

Romans 8:28 is a verse everyone here has probably memorized.  But nevertheless it bears repeating.  This verse comes right after the one we quoted earlier about the Spirit groaning in us through our weaknesses.  Vs. 28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

I trust that you have been called according to God’s purpose.  I pray that you have not rejected the light that God has given you.  But that you have believed in that light, and have followed in that light, so that you may continue to fulfill His calling upon your life.  Be careful to consider all that God has taught us today concerning His Son.  He was fully man and fully God, that He might become our Savior and our Substitute, that we might receive the righteousness of Christ by faith in Him.  And having received Him, we love Him.  And having loved Him, we obey Him.  And as we walk in the light of His truth, He will one day glorify us so that we might be like Him and be with Him forever.  Amen.

The manifestation of the gospel, Mark 4:21-34

In this chapter, Mark has given us a small collection of parables which Jesus taught during His ministry.  Last time, we looked at the first one, which is the parable of the soils.  Today we will look at four more.  Parables are physical illustrations of spiritual truth.  Pastor’s and teachers today often make use of illustrations as an attempt to help people understand a biblical principle or doctrine.  However, that is not really the purpose of a parable.  

Notice in vs.11,12 that Jesus indicates a different purpose in using parables.  He is not necessarily trying to illustrate truth more clearly, but rather to teach truth while at the same time keeping the unbelieving from understanding it.  Listen to what He says to the disciples in vs.11, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”

Now that sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? That Jesus in a sense would use a parable to camouflage the truth.  But the fact is, that spiritual truth is disclosed as a matter of progressive revelation.  It requires belief, and acceptance, but also it requires one to act upon it before God discloses more truth.  There is a verse in Psalms 119:105 which speaks to this principle of progressive revelation;  “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”  In other words, as truth is disclosed to you, you must take the step of obedience in regards to that truth, and then God will shine the light on the next step, which again must be acted upon to proceed down the path to spiritual enlightenment.  Notice how the psalmist compares truth to light, which only lights the next step along the path.  You must walk in it to continue in the light. 

So it is in a parable - spiritual illumination is necessary.  Without the guidance of the Spirit, you cannot understand the teaching of the parable.  It may seem to make sense on a physical level, because it is couched in a physical metaphor, but you cannot glean the spiritual sense without spiritual illumination from God, either in the person of Jesus Christ, or by the Holy Spirit.  The disciples had Jesus to explain the spiritual meaning of the parables to them.  The multitudes that were not interested in spiritual truth, but were only there for the entertainment value of the miracles did not have that benefit. Notice vs34, “and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.” So there came a point in Jesus’s ministry when the crowds were massing around Him to see the miracles, in which He uses parables to teach them, while at the same time veiling the deeper spiritual meaning from those who would not believe in Him.

Now that is a principle of faith that we might have a hard time with because it seems unfair or discriminatory.  Why are unbelievers blind to the truth of the gospel?  And yet this is what the Bible teaches.  The Bible says the just shall live by faith and not by sight.  2Cor. 4:3-4 says,  “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,  whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

So before someone can believe, there must be a divine awakening by the Spirit of God whereby they are given spiritual eyes to see.  And we are going to see this principle of spiritual illumination taught again and again in these parables we are looking at today.  The necessity of spiritual illumination.  And in that regard, we are going to see that only when that spiritual illumination is in place will there be the manifestation of spiritual life.  

Let’s jump into the first one then and see how Jesus presents this. Vs. 21 And [Jesus] was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Now remember that our pattern for understanding this parable is found in the first parable of the soils.  Jesus said in vs.13 if you don’t understand that first one, you won’t understand any of the parables.  And the key to understanding the first one is that Jesus identifies the seed as the word of God.  If He had not told us that key, we could easily go off in a hundred different directions in interpretation.  We might think the first parable was about being a good steward of our resources and not being wasteful.  But when we know that the seed planted is the word of God, then we can begin to understand the spiritual principle being taught.  

In like manner, we have to look at this parable with the same kind of discernment.  In fact, notice that Jesus uses the same closing statement in this parable as He did in the parable of the soils.  He says in vs. 23, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”  That’s almost identical as the phrase in vs.9.  In other words, listen carefully with spiritual discernment.  If you have spiritual ears, listen carefully that you might understand fully.  

So what then is the lamp which is depicted in this next parable?  We have already seen in Psalms 119 that the lamp is the word of God just as the seed was the word of God in the first parable.  Another important text that supports this is found in John 1:1-5, 9 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. ...  There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.”

So there you have it, the Word is the Light, which enlightens every man.  I would suggest then that the lamp is the Incarnate Word of God which man accepts into His heart by believing in Jesus Christ as His Savior and Lord.  This word then is given to us that we might live in that light and walk in that light, and reflect that light of God to the world.   Jesus is saying that this light was not given to us that we might hide it, but that we would shine it out to the world.  

Now that is not just talking about evangelism.  I think we can consider it in light of the parable of the soils, in that the fruit which the seed produces is in the likeness of the same.  In other words, Jesus who is the Word is planted in us and this seed brings forth fruit which looks like Jesus.  So the fruit of the Spirit is to look like Jesus.  Just as the seed of an apple produces an apple, so does the light of the Word produce the image of Jesus Christ in us.  We exhibit His character and His nature as a result of receiving the word implanted.  Psalm 36:9, “In thy light we see light.”  

That same principle is taught here; that as Jesus is the Light, shining the truth of God to the world, the very reflection of God, so we are to reflect Jesus Christ to the world.  The Spirit of God was given to us that we might look like and act like and speak like Jesus.  Not that we might feign lip service to God on Sunday, but put Him under a bushel basket the rest of the week.  Not simply that we might only hand out a couple of tracks and think that we have fulfilled our purpose, but that we might do the works of God and speak and act like Christ as the light of truth leads us to walk in the light.  1John 1:7 “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” That is the testimony that God desires from us.  To be holy even as He is holy.

And then in vs 22, “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.”  That means then that if you have the Light of God in you, then He cannot stay hidden.  He will produce light.  There will be a corresponding reflection of Jesus Christ by your life.  Your salvation will not, cannot stay hidden.  

That segue’s into the next parable, or simile in vs24, And He was saying to them, "Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.” 

Here is the same principle further explained.  If you do not believe the Light that has been revealed to you, then what light you have will be taken away from you. According to Romans 1 God will give you over to a reprobate mind. Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”  The light is taken away.  On the other hand, if you have believed the Light of the Word, then more light will be given. That light produces life.  You will not only have life, but you will have it more abundantly.  You will have eternal life.  

So then, Jesus said, take care what you listen to.  What does He mean by that?  Well, it’s easy to understand if you remember He is talking about the word of God.  If you receive the word of God, and act upon it, and follow it’s light, then you will be given more light, you will be given more life.  But if you listen to the lies of the devil, to the lies of the world, then you will remain in darkness.  That darkness leads to depravity and depravity to destruction.   

Be careful then what you listen to.  Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  Conversely, false teaching comes by hearing, and it produces apostasy. 

So then, by your standard of measure it will be measured to you. How you receive the truth of God will determine to what degree you are given truth.  A good way of understanding that is how you are obedient to the truth.  As you are obedient, to that measure, more will be given to you in the same measure.  The more you follow the truth, in the same measure  God will reveal to you truth.  There is a progressive nature to biblical revelation that is contingent upon your obedience.   In other words, you cannot walk a yard in your faith and expect a mile in your sanctification. No, but as you walk a yard in your faith, God will grant you a yard’s worth of sanctification. The walk in the Spirit is a walk of progressive sanctification.  But it is a walk, none the less.  Our salvation was never intended to be stagnant.  One leap of faith and then still for the rest of your life. The Bible says we are to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Far too many people claim to have received the truth of salvation, but they have never continued in that light.  They haven’t grown an inch since supposedly they were converted.  That is not what the Bible teaches constitutes spiritual life.  As James 2 declares, we are to show our faith by our works.

Now we must move on to the next parable quickly.  Vs26 And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;  and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows--how, he himself does not know.  The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Here again, Jesus is teaching the same principle while at the same time elaborating on it even more.  Once again we see the man sowing seed into the soil.  And in this case, there is only one soil presented.  It’s obviously the good soil, because it produces a crop.  So we know already from the parable of the soils that the seed is the word of God, and the soil is the human soul or heart.  

What Jesus is teaching here is that this spiritual illumination that comes through the word of God activated by the Spirit of God causes a spiritual growth which cannot be seen physically, or even understood from a natural point of view, but which is happening nonetheless because of divine germination in the heart of man.  In this parable again, we see the kingdom of God is manifested.  First, the word is planted.  And in the process of maturity spiritual life is revealed.  It is a mystery.  It is something accomplished through the Spirit of God in the human soul.  Without this divine insemination of spiritual life, there can be no growth.  But because of the spiritual seed implanted, it bears forth spiritual things.  

I want to make sure that you all understand what the kingdom of God is.  It is a spiritual kingdom, whereby God rules in the hearts of man.  Jesus came to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth, and He did so by planting the word of God in our hearts, by which they were transformed spiritually, so that we might be the family of God; spiritual sons and daughters of God.  Thus nations and empires and races and nationalities have no means of restricting this spiritual kingdom.  God reigns in the hearts of His people throughout the world.  

We need to be careful then in interpreting this parable that we do not try to make it say more than what it is intended.  It’s not talking about the rapture, it’s not talking about the second coming, it’s not talking about producing salvation in yourself.  But what it is picturing is again a planting and a growth.  The harvest simply represents the culmination of spiritual growth and maturity that will come if in fact there has been a true planting of the gospel in the heart of the believer. It’s talking about sanctification, as Hebrews 12:14 tells us, without which no one will see the Lord

Now let’s turn our attention to the last parable.  And this particular one is the subject of much disagreement among commentators and Bible teachers.  But I think the earlier statement by Christ in vs24  alludes to how we should approach this parable.  Notice His statement back in vs.24, “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

In that statement, I believe Christ alludes to both a positive and negative consequences of what you listen to.  If you receive the truth of the gospel, there will be a positive growth and manifestation of the truth in your life.  But if you listen to false teaching, there will be a subsequent aberrant growth that is not spiritual, but physical.

Now I think that is illustrated in this next parable, and you can almost sense that this one is different in the way Jesus introduces it.  He says, “How shall we picture or literally, how shall we compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?”  So Jesus is indicating there is a contrasting nature to this parable of the kingdom of God.  And so I think that it illustrates what I call a duality of manifestation.  

And what I mean by that is that there are two kinds of growth represented in this parable.  Notice that the first one seems to follow the normal pattern established so far in the others.  Once again, there is a seed which is sown.  We have seen that in two others in this passage.  The seed is the word of God.  But in this case, Jesus describes the seed as a mustard seed which is smaller, He said, than the other seeds sown in the garden, yet when it is grown in is larger than all the other plants in the garden.

Now in a natural environment a mustard seed produces a mustard bush, usually just a few feet tall.  But in Matthew and Luke’s parallel account in their gospels, the mustard seed becomes a tree.  Mark just says it grows up larger than all the other plants and has large branches.  So we can assume that what Jesus is saying is that this mustard seed produces an abnormally large plant, actually it becomes a tree which is large enough for the birds of the air to nest in it’s branches.  

Now as I said, there is some controversy about this.  A superficial reading might conclude that Jesus is saying that the kingdom of God starts out small and then grows very large which sounds desireable.  But a more careful interpretation in keeping with the metaphors taught in the previous parables would indicate that in fact, Jesus is saying that there is an abnormality to the growth of the kingdom.  It has become much larger than what would naturally occur.  And furthermore, in the parable of the soils, which remember Jesus said we must learn in order to interpret the other parables, in that parable the birds of the air were identified as the devil and his angels who ate up the seed which fell beside the road.  

Now if we were to keep our metaphors consistent, then in this case, would not the birds nesting in the branches be a picture of the devil and his angels finding refuge in the branches of the church universal?  I would argue that it is in keeping with the principles set forth.  Furthermore, though Jesus said that the gospel would be proclaimed throughout the earth, yet He also said in Matthew 7:14  that “the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”   So from a spiritual perspective, large, abnormal growth is not the kind of growth that is consistent with the Biblical paradigm of the church.

So it would seem that Jesus is saying that the church will grow into an organization that exceeds the design of God, and in fact harbors and gives shelter to false doctrines and doctrines of devils.  The kingdom of God, Jesus said, has vessels for honor and some for dishonor.  Every knee will bow and every knee will confess that Jesus is Lord.  But not all will be saved.  Jesus said after My departure, many false prophets will arise in the church.  Many antichrists, John said, are already at work in the world.  And again in Matthew 7 Jesus says that in that day “many will say to Me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

So then, we can picture the church which is the kingdom of God, exhibiting abnormal growth, and certainly we have seen that in the 2000 years since this parable was spoken.  Yes, the gospel has spread it’s branches throughout the world, but as the seven churches of Revelation illustrate, there are many that have lost their first love, that no longer do the works that they did at first.  And to those apostate churches, or soon to be apostate churches, Jesus says “Repent” or He will remove their lamp stand from their place in the kingdom of God.  

So then let us remember what Jesus said in vs24, ”Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

If you have not believed in Jesus Christ unto salvation, if you do not have the Spirit of Truth residing in you, then you cannot walk in the light of truth, nor manifest the light of God.  You will not produce the fruit of righteousness that God requires.  There must first be a planting of the truth of God in your heart, and if that is truly there, then there will be appropriate fruit that follows.  I implore you to examine your hearts today in the light of God’s word that you have heard.  Jesus said in Matthew 7:16,  "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”

And if you are indeed made a good tree today by faith in Jesus’s righteousness by the grace of God, then I trust that you are producing good fruit through obedience to the light shown to you in the word of God.  As God has shown you the truth through His word, act upon it.  Be obedient to it.  And to him who has shall more be given.  God will add to you grace upon grace, that you might grow more and more, until we all are conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.  May it be so.  Amen.  

The hearers of the gospel, Mark 4:1-20

Today we come to what many commentators believe is the first of the parables that Jesus taught.  And as we see in the story, the crowds have become so large, and there was such a desire for healing and to see miracles that people were being crushed, and so Jesus got into a boat just off shore so that He could teach the people.  The point is, that He wanted to teach them the truth of the gospel of the kingdom.  Healing had it’s place, and miracles had their place, but that was not the primary purpose of His ministry.  It was to present the saving news of the gospel.  And so we see that the large, pressing crowds actually interfered with that by their desire to see some miracle, or receive some miracle, yet they were really uninterested in learning the truth.  

So Jesus employs a method of teaching called a parable. Parable’s teach a spiritual truth through a physical illustration.  You must have spiritual insight to understand.  You must have spiritual illumination. Without such divine illumination, we would be in darkness.  He speaks in parables because the people that are in attendance are only interested in physical things; healing, miracles, being fed, being entertained.  Jesus’s ministry must have sometimes seemed like a spectacle; it was entertaining, dynamic, exciting.  Demons acting out.  Paralytics being raised up and jumping for joy.  The crowds were attracted to that.  But that is not the kind of attraction that Jesus wants, so He uses parables to teach them, which are a method of teaching which present a deeper spiritual truth to those who are spiritually attuned, while at the same time obscuring the truth to those who are not ready to listen spiritually. Now we will say more about that in a moment.  But let’s look at this parable, which Jesus says in vs.13 is important to understand if we are to understand all the parables.  

The good news concerning this parable is that Jesus gives the disciples the explanation of it in the latter half of the passage.  Not every parable is given with an explanation.  But once we learn the principles involved in this one, it should be easier to understand the later ones.  

In many other parables, Jesus starts off by saying something like “the kingdom of God is like…” and then the gives the analogy through a similitude. But in this case we see that Jesus does not say this is “Like the kingdom of God.”  But He just starts off by saying, “The sower went out to sow.”  However, in vs 11, Jesus says, “to you  has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God.”  So we know that this parable teaches what He calls the mystery of the kingdom of God.  A mystery is a spiritual principle that is revealed through spiritual revelation.  It is veiled to those who are not spiritual.   Look at vs 11, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”  That was a partial quote of Isaiah 55.  

In other words, those multitudes that were seeking a spectacle, that were seeking some excitement, who were there for the miracles but were not interested in spiritual truth, they were not spiritual, therefore they could not glean the spiritual truth of the parable.  But for those like the disciples who had a heart for spiritual things, they were given the understanding of the mystery.  Now that is an important principle which underlines the message of the parable as we shall see.  You must have spiritual insight to understand.  You must have spiritual illumination.  Without such divine illumination, we would be in darkness.

So Jesus gives the parable.  It’s a simple story of a  sower who sowed seed, and some fell on the hard packed path alongside the field, and it was immediately eaten up by the birds.  Other seed fell on rocky ground with a little soil on top.  It sprang up immediately, but when the hot sun came out it withered and died.  Other seed fell on soil and sprung up, but so did thorns and weeds and they choked out the life of the plant so that it was unfruitful.  And then some seed fell on good soil, and produced a crop which yielded 30, 60, and hundred fold. 

Now if that was all that Mark had recorded about that parable, then I think most of us would be in the dark about what was meant by it.  We might surmise that Jesus was teaching that we needed to be more careful with our resources.  If we don’t use our resources carefully, then we will waste much of it, and we will not get as big of a return for our investments, whatever they may be.  That makes sense to me.  And it makes sense in a natural world that is focused on physical things.  I would bet that was the general consensus of the crowd as they heard this parable.  How to increase your investments.  How to be a good steward of your resources.  How to live your best life now.  Sounds like familiar sermon fodder, doesn’t it?

Well, Jesus concluded the parable with an important statement, which indicated that there was much more to the story.  In vs.9 He says,  “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  What He is saying is “He who has spiritually attuned to hear, hear! listen!  Listen carefully, intently.  There is more here than meets the eye.” 

Well, thankfully, the disciples recognized that there had to be more to the story than what was on the surface. So while most of the crowd went away satisfied with the superficial aspects of the story and the supernatural events that they had witnessed, the disciples asked Jesus privately for the meaning of the parable.  And that teaches the principle of spiritual illumination.  Jesus who is the truth, or the Spirit of Truth, must illuminate our hearts if we are to understand spiritual things.  The secret to being of the kingdom of God is that such life must be of the Spirit and not of the natural.  And that is born out even in the method of the message of the gospel. So Jesus gives us the meaning of the parable in vs.14-20.  Remember now, in His explanation starting in vs 11, Jesus has already said that this is a mystery of the kingdom of God.  These are spiritual metaphors of the kingdom of God that are presented in this parable.  

Lets look at the first one; the sower.  Who is the sower?  The sower could have been Jesus.  In fact, Jesus was certainly sowing.  But the sower can be anyone who is of the kingdom of God.  Seeds produce fruit after their kind.  So in the kingdom of God one must be a part of the kingdom to be a sower.  So anyone can be a sower of the kingdom of God providing he himself is first a citizen of the kingdom of God.  The sower could be a preacher of the gospel.  Preaching would certainly constitute sowing.  God has ordained the gospel to be preached. Romans 10:14 says, “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?” Though we may not all be pastors, yet we can all proclaim the gospel if we are citizens of the kingdom of God.

But it’s important to note that the main thrust of the parable is not about the sower.  From a natural interpretation of the parable, you might focus on the sower.  If he learned how to sow better, more efficiently, then he might not have wasted so much seed.  But Jesus doesn’t seem focused on the sower, nor on his methods, or on his expertise.  Simply that he sows wherever he goes.  Our job is to sow the seed.  Just do it.  If you seem ineffective, it doesn’t matter as much as that you just do it.  Sow the seed.  God has His purposes even when the seed lands on poor soil.  Our purpose is to sow.

The second thing which we need to notice is the seed.  What is it?  Jesus said it is the word of God.  We sow the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The gospel is a mystery to the world, but it is divinely powerful for the overthrowing of fortresses.  Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  There is power in the word of God. The gospel is the power of God. As ambassadors of the kingdom of God we need to use the power of the gospel to achieve God’s purposes.  The power or effectiveness of the gospel is not found in programs, or in methods, or in attracting crowds, but in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, the word of God.  The word of God has power inherent in it, even as a seed has in a tiny shell the germ of a mighty oak tree.  Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God [is] living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

The next thing we need to see is the soils.  Jesus gives four types of soil.  In farming, soil is an important aspect of how successful your farm will be.  Farmers spend a lot of time and money on the soil.  My wife is an avid gardener.  And she is always complaining because we have poor soil.  She used to be really jealous of our neighbor’s garden, because he had all this money that he would spend enriching the soil.  We don’t even have a tiller.  A lot of times Susie would just chop the soil with a hoe and try to break it up.  The only time I ever saw Susie act a little bit larcenous, was when our neighbor had a great big pile of manure delivered to his garden.  She really wanted to go over there and “borrow” a couple of shovel full’s of manure.  I told her that coveting your neighbors manure was a sin.  A stinky sin at that. 

Soil though in this parable is a picture of the human heart.  The heart is a euphemism for the soul of man.  It encompasses your emotions, your intellect and your will.  So Jesus is talking about the heart.  It is not a parable of the sower.  It is a parable of the soils.  The variety of conditions of the heart. 

The first heart is that which can be described as a hard heart.  2Cor. 4:4 says “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” There is no spiritual illumination whatsoever. These people are just blind to the gospel.  They turn a deaf ear.  The word of God just bounces right off their hardened heart.  

Jesus said these are the ones who are beside the road where the seed was sown.  In other words, the soil has not been prepared there at all.  It hasn’t been plowed, or watered, or fertilized.  It is not broken up to receive the seed.  It is still packed down hard.  And so the seed lays there and the birds of the air come and eat it.  Now this is another important principle for future parables.  Birds of the air, Jesus says, are the devil and his angels. And they take away the word which was sown.  Don’t discount the work of the devil in the presentation of the gospel.  He is there to snatch away the word of God through distractions, through deceit, through every way possible, to keep you from hearing the word, lest it pierce your heart. 

The second type of heart is the rocky heart.  Notice vs.16, it says, “in a similar way…”  I think that indicates that these two hearts are closely aligned.  Now that makes sense doesn’t it?  Because hard packed ground is similar to rocky ground.  If you fall down on hard packed ground and it can feel like you fell on cement.  And I suggest that they are similar in results.  In either case, there is no real growth of the seed. 

In this case, Jesus says that “the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, [are those] who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.”  

When a plant has no depth of soil, it has to grow up rather than down.  But because it has no root, when the sun comes up they wither and die.  This speaks to those people who hear the word, and they have a superficial, emotional response to the word.  It’s quick, but it’s temporary.  Because as affliction comes, or persecution comes, they quickly die off.  I don’t think Jesus is necessarily talking about religious persecution in an organized fashion.  I think it just means affliction in a general way.  Your girlfriend doesn’t want to go to church with you.  Your job doesn’t want to give you Sundays off anymore.  Your friends want you to go out with them on Saturday night and you will get back late.  It’s sort of rainy on Sunday morning.  And so these superficial “Christians” who have no real spiritual life, quickly fizzle out.

I think there is a danger in evangelicalism today when we emphasize emotional, impulsive responses to the gospel, and then we declare them saved for eternity.  You’re good to go. I think that Jesus is teaching here that sort of emotional response does not always constitute true salvation.  And so we do those folks a grave disseverance if we tell them that that is all there is to salvation.  No, the Bible teaches that we must count the cost. There is a cost to following the Lord.  And when you are faced with that cost, whether or not you continue or desert the faith is indicative of the measure of your commitment to the Lord. 

The third characterization of the heart is that of the thorny heart.  Vs 18 "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,  but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

Notice that this seems to be a plant that grows and survives, but it is unfruitful.  Jesus gives three reasons for unfruitfulness in this person.  First is the worries of the world.  Man, which of us does not have to contend with the worries of the world?  Notice, He doesn’t say the sins of the world.  Just the worries of the world.  Perhaps it’s your job.  Maybe you’re facing a slowdown, a layoff, bankruptcy.  Or perhaps it’s going the other way.  It’s going great.  There just aren’t enough hours in the day.  You can’t get any good help.  You’ve got more business than you can handle.  Whatever it is, it has you so occupied, that you can’t spend any time on the business of the kingdom. 

Or perhaps it’s your children.  You’re so busy with your kids, your grandkids, your wife’s got you going, your husband has all this stuff going on and so you have to take up the slack with your kids.  Maybe your family concerns are those thorny weeds that are springing up faster than you can take care of them.  It’s like the verse in Hebrews 12:1 which says, “let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”  The point is that it may not be sin that is hindering you.  It may not be something inherently bad.  In fact, it may be something good.  He who finds a wife finds a good thing, the Bible says.  Children are a gift from the Lord.  But good things can be hindrances to running the race.  They can become thorny weeds that hinder fruitfulness.  

God didn’t design a fig tree to be a shade tree.  He made it to bear fruit.  And God designed us to bear fruit.  John 15:16 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”  We were designed to bear fruit.  

Notice the other thorny thing, vs 19, the deceitfulness of riches.  You don’t have to be a millionaire to have this one.  It’s not money that is the source of all evil, but the love of money.  And show me someone who doesn’t love money? Money is deceitful however, because it never satisfies.  There is never enough.  No matter how much you make, you always manage to have a lifestyle that is just beyond your budget.  And so we are always looking for more, thinking that will be the answer to our problems.  

Listen, I learned this lesson the hard way a number of years ago.  Not that I am there yet, but I have learned something along the way so far.  When I finally gave God control of my finances, He didn’t give me more, He gave me less.  He showed me how to be satisfied with less.  How little I really needed to be able to live.  And I think that lesson is not just for me, it’s for all of us.  If you think that you don’t have a problem with money, then you have fallen prey to the deceitfulness of riches.  And in our culture today, we are rich beyond the wildest dreams of most of the other people in the world.  God is not a respecter of persons.  He doesn’t have different weights and measures for Christians in America but a different scale for those in North Korea.  I doubt that the average Christian in N. Korea has much of a problem with the deceitfulness of riches holding back his fruitfulness.

And finally we come to the good soil; the good heart, the receptive, ready, obedient heart.  “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” Notice that all of the various hearts heard the word, according to the parable.  But only this one does Jesus say accepted it.  Now what does that mean?  It means to apply it.  To let it sink down into your soul and change your actions and attitudes.  It’s like a seed that germinates and breaks open and starts to grow.  It produces something.  It isn’t just a passive hearing, but an active obedience to the word. The seed which is the word of God has to germinate, it has to grow, it has to grow roots, to be activated by the Spirit of God.  That is what it means to walk in the Spirit.  To obey the word, to act upon it. That’s how the seed is activated.  You act upon it.  Faith is not just hearing the word, but acting upon it.

And notice the results; it bears fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.  Now what is fruit?  Well, Jesus doesn’t say.  I have heard a lot of sermons about this parable.  And practically none of them say what the fruit is.  Perhaps because Jesus doesn’t say it, they don’t dare venture a guess.  A couple of preachers, good preachers, by the way, say that parable is about winning souls.  It’s a parable about evangelism and good hearted Christians will win souls, some 30, some 60 some 100.  Well, I don’t think we can use those numbers to make that association.  However,  I will admit there are some elements of evangelism in the parable.  Winning souls may certainly be a part of bearing fruit.  But I think that is making a natural assumption.  And as we said at the beginning, we can really go off track making natural assumptions as to the meaning of a parable.  It’s the spiritual meaning that we need to be seeking and that comes from spiritual sources.  

In the disciples case, their spiritual source for understanding was Jesus.  He was able to tell them what the parable meant.  If we wish to go beyond what Jesus said, then we have to use the only spiritual resource that we have; the Holy Spirit.  And the Holy Spirit is the author of the Holy Scriptures. 

So what is the fruit?  Is it souls saved?  Is it the number of notches on your spiritual gun stock?  Souls saved may be a part of it, but it can’t be just souls.  I suggest that fruit is spiritual fruit; and spiritual fruit is by definition fruit of the Spirit.  Now the Bible tells us what is the fruit of the Spirit, doesn’t it? Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  

So, at least according to Galatians, souls saved are not mentioned as fruit. But rather it gives characteristics and attributes of the Christian.  Are these attributes the fruit that we are to be exhibiting?  Well, that would seem to be what it says in Romans 8:28-29  “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Notice that we are called according to His purpose, which is what?  Paul tells us in the next verse, 29 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” 

So then, can we say that the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians is the same character and attributes of Jesus Christ?  Did He exhibit love?  Agape love, sacrificial love, even to the point of laying down His life?  Did He exhibit joy?  Did He exhibit peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control?  Of course He did.  So it would seem that being conformed to the image of Christ is to bear fruit.  Some will manifest these fruits more so than others.  But good hearts, receptive hearts, bear the image of Christ to some measure.

Now lest we make a case of one verse, let’s look at just a couple of more examples in scripture.  In Eph 5:8 we read, “for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light  (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),  trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.”  Well, there we have Light used instead of Spirit.  But if you remember my earlier application, this spiritual truth is derived from spiritual illumination.  And the fruit of such spiritual light in our hearts produces  the character and attributes of Christ; goodness, righteousness and truth.  

Another is found in Phil. 1:10 “so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”  What is this fruit of righteousness?  I would say it is righteousness; sincere, blameless, approving that which is excellent.  An apple seed produces an apple. So righteousness imputed produces righteous acts.  

And that is born out in a final verse; Col 1:10 “so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”  So good works, or works of righteousness is the fruit that we bear, which pleases the Lord.  And increasing in the knowledge of God.  I would suggest that is a fruit as well.  If we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, who is the image of God, then we have to know about Him.  And the more we learn of Him, the more we come to know Him, and the more we know Him the more we love Him.  And the more we love Him, the more we want to please Him.  And that fruit pleases God.  That is the fruit of maturity.  It is the fruit of sanctification.  Where we cast off more and more of the world, and put on more and more of Jesus Christ.  When we live out our faith in obedience, we will be a living testimony to the power of the gospel.  And by that means we will be much more effective in our preaching.

 I hope that today you will examine your hearts.  Everyone of  us here today is represented by one of those four soil scenarios.  Which heart do you have?  A hard heart?  A stony heart?  A thorny heart, or a good heart?  

What if you say, pastor, I am afraid I have a thorny heart, or a rocky heart.  What is the remedy?  What must I do to make my heart good soil that produces fruit which is pleasing to God?  Well, I can tell you where to start.  It starts with a broken and contrite heart. It starts with repentance.  Simply call out to God to give you a new heart.

The Psalmist David found himself in a place where His heart had grown cold and sin had found it’s way into his soul.  He prayed  in Psalm 51, and this is where we all need to start,  “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. ...  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”  Call upon the Lord today, and He will take that broken heart and make it fruitful, being conformed to the image of Christ.