Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Mark 5: The powerful king

This is a sermon originally preached at Twynholm July 27th 2008.

The audio will be available here soon, dv.

Mark 5 sermon

Some things in the future are difficult to predict. Will property prices rise or fall. Will it rain today. Even important things can seem terribly uncertain for many people. Will love last? Will the pain go away? Will the preacher be finished before noon?

But there is one thing that is certain: at least, it seems that way. If this world continues long enough everyone in this room shall die. I shall die. You shall die.

Death is the one great reality that, ignore as we might want to, we cannot escape.

For some who have lost loved ones recently, the reality of death still weighs heavily on grieving hearts.

For others, it brings back more distant, yet still painful memories.

For all, it is a reality from which we instinctively shrink back in fear.

We respond to the fear of death in many different ways…

n We try to rationalize it with a platitude:

o Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is increased by tales, so is the other.
Francis Bacon

o The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. Mark Twain.

n We try to laugh it off:

o Whether it is the Far side cartoons about hell.

o Woody Allen: I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens.

o I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying.

How many times have I heard someone say, “at least his death was painless,” as if death is OK so long as we can avoid pain. No! the whole point of pain is to help us to avoid death. Pain is a mechanism for warning us how terrible death is, and that we don’t want to go there.

n We scream at it: Perhaps the most eloquent call to defiance in death comes from Dylan Thomas.

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

n We deny it’s as bad as it seems. The next world must be better than this one.

Seneca: The day which we fear as our last is but the birthday of eternity.

The blind and deaf Helen Keller said,

Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there's a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.

n We surrender to it.

Plato: Must not all things at the last be swallowed up in death? Plato.

n Distraction

I think that by far the most common method of coping with the approach of death is distraction. It is inescapable. It will win, so don’t think about it and enjoy life.

The fear of death is merely replaced by the love of life: don’t think about death, get on with living.

So, when my grandmother died, my grandfather’s best friend insisted that the best way to help my grandfather through the day of the funeral was to make sure that he spent the majority of it drunk, and so would not even remember going home to sleep in their room by himself.

What is the way in which you cope when thinking about the reality of your approaching death?

Perhaps you think I’m being morbid: well, it is only morbid to think about death if there is in fact no answer to it. If death is a reality that kills all hopes, then distraction would almost certainly be the most appropriate tactic. The bible agrees.

If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." Is death just like the end of the summer holidays – school will start again for sure, but to spend the whole summer holidays thinking about their inevitable end would only ruin them.

If also, there death is not the end, but the reality beyond death will be pleasant for almost all, then we might happily ignore it.

But the bible says that neither of those things are true: for the reason that death is not the end is not due to the fact that our human spirits are so strong that one day we will fight it off and emerge like butterflies from our cocoons.

No, we have not understood death. Death, according to the bible is not natural. It is judicial. It is a punishment. It is God’s declaration that we have rebelled against the author of live. We have chosen to reject him. We have chosen the path that leads to death. It is the great symptom that this world has gone terribly wrong, and is under god’s anger. Symptoms should not be ignored unless one is absolutely sure that there is no cure.

So how are we to approach death: our fear of it; living in a world dominated by it; facing it ourselves one day.

1) Without Christ we should abandon hope, for death reigns

2) Fear Christ more than we fear death.

3) Turn in trust to Christ for life.

1) There is no hope without Christ.

This is a world dominated by death, and the fear of death.

Mark 4:35-38

35(A) On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves(B) were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

Have you ever known a situation where you were in so much physical danger due the forces of nature that you wondered whether you would survive even another few minutes.

That was the state of some hardened fishermen in the first account.

The incredible forces of nature and our powerlessness before them are a sign that we are not in control of our lives. There has always been a healthy fear of the sea even among the most hardened sailors. In the ancient world it was seen as a sign that this world is in the grip of chaos. Each time the waves roll onto the beach, it was seen that the sea was kept from engulfing the whole land only by the sustaining hand of the Lord.

Why do you think that world is like that? That one day after people around the Indian ocean are recovering from their Christmas celebrations, suddenly death takes tens of thousands in an instant?

The bible is clear. From the day that people rebelled against God, the word has been a hostile place. God has cursed the ground so that it would be clear that all is not right in our relationship with our creator.

What is your ground for hope in a world that is cruelly ruled by death?

Death rules so much that every fear that we have has death in the background: we fear things that are a little taste of death.

What do are you afraid of?

Loss? In death you will lose everything. Job’s suffering is something that we all face in death. We must go to that place alone. Naked we came from our mothers’ womb, naked we will return.

Hurt? Death is the ultimate picture of being hurt in this world.

Shame? In death we will be utterly exposed. There will be no more hiding.

All our fears have death in their shadow.

Think about the last gangster film you watched. What makes people respect the Godfather, or tony Soprano. It isn’t their charming personalities or fine taste in suits. It’s the fact that you know that if you cross him, you might find yourself in the trunk of his Cadillac.

We live in a world where death rules.

This is seen much more clearly in the next scene.

1(H) They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.[a] 2And when Jesus[b] had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3(I) He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

This scene has death everywhere; over on the other side of the lake this was Gentile territory populated by pigs and other unclean animals.

And Here is someone more in the grip of death than we could possibly imagine. We read down in verse 9,

9And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is(O) Legion, for we are many."

This man lives in the realm of the dead. He lives among the graves, he has thousands of demons – probably fallen angels in utter control of his life.

Even the whole town was unable to control him. What a pitiful picture in verse 5...

5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

Though he broken the shackles people had bound him with, he was very much still in chains – for he was not released from his desperate cries and self-harm.

Have you experienced one freedom, only to find another slavery? Perhaps you’ve known people who’ve kicked a gripping addiction, but have sunk instead into a deep depression. Others might come through a medical trial only to be face a broken relationship.

This is a world dominated by loss, pain and shame.

And in the next scene we see in the woman a picture relational death.

24: And a great crowd followed him and(X) thronged about him. 25And there was a woman(Y) who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.

One needs to understand something about the ceremonial law of Israel to understand quite what a terrible position this woman was in. We read in Leviticus 15 that so long as the bleeding continued she was unclean; nobody could touch her without becoming unclean themselves. And because she was unclean, she could not enter God’s presence. She was barred from the temple until 8 days after the bleeding stopped.

In other words she was an outcast: from other people, but most fundamentally from God himself.

All these laws about uncleanness in the Old Testament were a picture reminding us the state that we have been in ever since man and woman rebelled against God. Adam and Eve had been told that on the day they ate of the fruit they would die. And spiritually speaking, they did: Adam and eve were cast out from God’s presence, and their relationship with each other was never the same. There was relational death.

And nobody could help them. They could not re-enter Eden – again death, in the form of a flaming sword barred the way.

So it was with this woman. She was cut off, and nobody could help her. The doctors only made her condition worse, and took all her money in the process.

Where have you seen death reign in your relationships? Even if you have a good marriage, why do you find that there are not only forces that would bring you and your spouse together, but that would rip you apart? Why do you have to fight in this world to get along?

It is the rule of death and decay: when we rebelled against God, we died spiritually, and even the most loving relationships are now characterised to a greater or lesser extent by hiding, manipulation and domination rather than love and cherish. It is a sign that the fundamental relationship on which all relationships are given their right shape and stability was broken. The relationship with God.

And where is it all leading?

Well, the shadows of death are not empty threats. Death itself will come. The NHS can’t stop it. Nobody ever sees a penny from their life insurance policies. (Even calling it life insurance is trying to hide the reality of death. It should be called death insurance)

Without Christ death itself is the final and inevitable hopeless moment.

35While he was still speaking, there came from(AE) the ruler’s house some who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why(AF) trouble(AG) the Teacher any further?"

If it was tragic that the woman had been an outcast for 12 years, how much more tragic that this little girl, herself only 12 years old should have her life cut off so short.

Children, do not assume that you will live forever. The way to make sure that you are ready for life is to make sure that you are ready to die: you don’t know when that will be. What would the Lord say to you if you died tonight? You need to know the answer to that question.

I don’t know if any of you have been close to a child that has died. What is there to say at a time so tragic. When Job had lost his entire family the wisest thing that his comforters did was for a while to say nothing, and sit with him and grieve. But the time comes when something must be said to that question that we rightly and instinctively ask at the graveside: WHY?

The Australian theologian Peter bolt has written, “If your philosophy of life has nothing to say at the graveside, then it has nothing to say. Here is our last and greatest enemy. The grave casts a shadow over our life and questions its very existence. This is the problem that has invaded our world. Is there any hope? Is there any help?”

Yes, there is. For though a shocking picture is painted in our passage of the power of death, it is not he greatest power portrayed here. Death cowers and retreats in the presence of Christ.

I’ve been talking for a little while now about death. Does that seem strange to you? It shouldn’t seem strange to talk about death in a Christian church. Twynholm Baptist Church, we cannot be a church that will only talk about things that make people comfortable. We have something to say at the graveside, because there is a death at the centre of Christianity: a death that brings life. Gospel.

Does this mean that we can merely rejoice? Death is undone, so all is fine now. No, first of all, what is striking about this passage is that people are more afraid of Jesus than they ever were of death.

2) Fear Jesus more than you fear death.

7And a great windstorm arose, and the waves(B) were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39And he awoke and(C) rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and(D) there was a great calm. 40He said to them, "Why are you(E) so afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another,(F) "Who then is this, that even(G) the wind and the sea obey him?"

Pages of ink have been spilled about how storms come and go quickly on the lake of Galilee. But those who made a living out of fishing that lake were terrified. Even if the wind suddenly stopped, the enrgy in the sea would keep the waves going for hours. But Jesus brings a divine calm. This is no amazing weather forecasting. It is divine authority.

The similarities with the passage we read from Jonah are more than incidental.

Both Jonah and Jesus have such self-confidence that they are able to sleep during the storm. But Jonah’s self-confidence is misplaced: he is running away from God so should have been more afraid that anyone else. Jesus self confidence is shown to be absolutely appropriate. He knew what he had come for and that he would not die at sea, but on a cross.

But Jesus isn’t just like Jonah: he is like GOD in the story of Jonah; for it is the LORD who send the great calm. At that point all the men in the boat were terrified and offered sacrifices to the LORD. Here they are terrified about Jesus.

They are now more afraid of Jesus than they were of death.

Look down to the next scene.

6And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and(J) fell down before him. 7And(K) crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus,(L) Son of(M) the Most High God?(N) I adjure you by God, do not torment me." 8For he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" 9And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is(O) Legion, for we are many." 10And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12and they begged him, saying, "Send us to the pigs; let us enter them." 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

The disciples had stood in awe, wondering who Jesus is. The demons know. And thus they are terrified. They know that Jesus has total authority. This man who could not be bound by the people of the region, even when he glimpses Jesus from a distance must bow.

The demons fear Jesus because they knew that there was something worse than physical death. “ do not torment me” they plead.

Physical death is just one of three things that the bible talks about as death. Spiritual death is the state that we are all in without Christ: rebels against God, cut off from fellowship with him, ever since adam and eve were cast out of the garden.

Physical death is the death we all know.

But if physical death is all you fear, you have not realised that there is a far worse kind of death. Revelation calls it the second death. The demons knew all about it and they knew that Jesus had the authority to send them there.

Jesus says elsewhere, in Matthew 10:28 “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell”

It was not just the demons who feared him. Seeing the power that Jesus had over thousands of demons, the people of the area feared him too.

14The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed[c] man, the one who had had(P) the legion, sitting there,(Q) clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17And(R) they began to beg Jesus[d] to depart from their region.

Isn’t that interesting. They had never ensured that the one with 2000 demons departed the region. But they were so afraid of Jesus that they insisted he left.

I wonder what kind of fear you will have of Jesus. There is no more terrible enemy than him. Perhaps you have a view of Jesus that he is gentle Jesus meek and mild:

- Minister and astrophysicist.

He wouldn’t hurt a flea.

When we look at an increasingly godless society that lives for carnal pleasure, convenience at the cost of the most vulnerable, medicine at any moral price, it is clear that the fear of judgement has not even entered the thought process of the majority. But it will one day. Let’s pray that it is not too late.

Do you think that Jesus is safe?

Like in the beavers words about Alsan, he is not safe: but he is good; he’s the king.

He certainly has incredible humility; he is certainly remarkably patient – that is why we can be here today and were not sent to hell years ago. But he isn’t just a friend: He is Wonderful counsellor: as we must listen to him. He is mighty God: and we must worship him. Everlasting Father, and we must obey him: Prince of Peace, and we must trust him. He is Lord, Saviour, master, King. If we think of him only as friend we will totally misunderstand the nature of our friendship. We are not chums or buddies. Some of the songs that are sung you might think it was a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. NO!

The extraordinary thing about being friends with god is not that you have a new best friend; it is that God would no longer be your enemy, but your friend.

But there is a time allocated when he will return. And we have no hope as we stand before him. No hope other than Jesus himself.

We must fear Christ more than we fear even death itself. Which means we must certainly fear Christ more than we fear anything else.

Is this a community that fears the Lord? Will we speak the Lord’s word to one another in love? Or will we fear the reaction we will get? Well, I hope that the reaction won’t be death – and we are to fear the Lord Jesus more than we fear death itself, so great is he.

If you do not fear Jesus, I can assure you that you will on the day that you see him. Like that demoniac, run to him and fall on your knees before that day when you see him approaches any closer.

But how – how are we to fear him? Are we merely to be gripped with terror, and paralysed.

No, the kind of fear that the Lord Jesus wants is not terror: that will come to those who do not fear him in this life. The kind of fear that the Lord Jesus wants is Trust. And those who trust in him will find that his great power is working for their good, turning death into life.

3) We are to turn in trust to Christ for life.

As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and(S) tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20And he went away and began to proclaim in(T) the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

We may begin to take notice of Jesus because of his great power; but once we have cast ourselves upon him, his mercy becomes all the more beautiful to us than his power. If Jesus had only power, we would flee from him. But because he has power and mercy, we would do well to flee to him.

And if we do, that power is all exercised in mercy towards us. That strength which was against us, bec

John Piper writes,

“Let us make crystal clear at the beginning of each new day, all we will get from God as believers is mercy. Whatever pleasures or pains may come our way in this day, they will all be mercy. This is why Christ came into the world – “in order that the Gentile maight glorify God for his mercy.” (Romans 15:9) We were born again, “according to his great mercy” (1pet 1:3) we pray daily “that we may receive mercy” (Heb 4:16) and we are now “waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life”. (Jude 1:21) In the end, when all is said and done, we will confess, ‘So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”(romans 9:16)

We see again that it is faith in jesus’ mercy that Jesus commends in the woman that he heals

34And he said to her, "Daughter,(AC) your faith has made you well;(AD) go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

And where do we see faith in Jesus’ mercy most clearly: it is in the reality of death.

5While he was still speaking, there came from(AE) the ruler’s house some who said, "Your daughter is dead. Why(AF) trouble(AG) the Teacher any further?" 36But overhearing[e] what they said, Jesus said to(AH) the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not fear, only believe." 37And he allowed no one to follow him except(AI) Peter and James and(AJ) John the brother of James. 38They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus[f] saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39And when he had entered, he said to them, (AK) "Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but(AL) sleeping." 40And they laughed at him. But he(AM) put them all outside and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41(AN) Taking her by the hand he said to her, "Talitha cumi," which means, "Little girl, I say to you,(AO) arise." 42And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43And(AP) he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

In the end, the only answer to the fear of death is not sheer terror at Jesus. It is faith in him.

It is the faith that realises that Jesus raises the dead. That realises that without him we are lost eternally, but with him we are eternally safe.

Will your fear cause you to run from Christ, or to run to him? There is no refuge from him. There is great refuge in him.

Hebrews 2:15
and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

And, with the eyes of faith Death will help us to see not merely the extent of Jesus’ power, but the extent of Jesus’ mercy.

I’ll say that again. With the eyes of faith Death will help us to see not merely the extent of Jesus’ power, but the extent of Jesus’ mercy.

Death came as a punishment for our rebellion against God. Jesus bore that punishment and so if we have faith in him, we need not face the second death, and death itself will become a doorway. Not the doorway it once was to judgment. But the doorway to life: a life where there will be no more mourning or crying or pain. A life where there will be no more death.

What a mercy there is in Christ. How much he bore when he faced not just physical, but the second death on our behalf. That is why as Christians we can talk about death and rejoice. It shows us just what our saviour has done. We don’t need to laugh it off or ignore it or rationalise it or surrender to it or scream at it. We can stare it in the face; we need not deny what a terrible enemy death is. For we merely see how great is Jesus’ mercy that he would taste it for us to release us from death and from the fear of death.

Jesus raises the dead. Not just in the case of this little girl who would not grow old, but eventually succumb to death again.

But in that raising of a little girl there is a picture of what Jesus does.

He raises the dead:

- Spiritual death: through faith, Jesus gives new life.

- Physical death: we too will be raised

- The second death: those who face Christ will NEVER face the second death. That is the death that Jesus tasted on our behalf.

These three deaths we deserve; and yet in the face of death we see Christ’s mercy. Where we deserved death, in him we have life.

Romans 5:17
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Thine be the glory, risen conquering son, endless is the victory thou o’er death has won.

And, as those who receive all the benefits of his victory, the name of Jesus is no longer held in hatred or terror: but in the fear of deep awe. The deep awe that has found something so wonderful that one’s own significance shrinks before it.

So, then we can sing

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
in a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
and drives away his fear.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Brother, Friend,
my Prophet, Priest and King,
my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
accept the praise I bring.

Till then I would thy love proclaim
with every fleeting breath;
and may the music of thy Name
refresh my soul in death!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Mark 4: The Surprising King

This sermon was preached at Twynholm Baptist Church


The audio is available here:


They got out their telescopes and pointed them towards the constellation of Orion. Out beyond the stars that made up Orion’s belt they were looking for a galaxy; a galaxy teeming with life. They were looking there, for the one who had hidden it had with his dying words told them that they would find the galaxy just below Orion’s belt. They were, of course, the Men in Black.

Perhaps you saw the cult 1997 film, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. If you didn’t, I’m afraid it’s too late: I’m going to ruin it for you.

For they eventually found the galaxy, but not where they were expecting it. Orion wasn’t the constellation, but a pet cat. And the galaxy wasn’t out in space, it was hanging in a glass ball beneath the belt around Orion’s neck. When the Men in Black discover it, the special effects take over and we ae taken inside the ball to discover the vast galaxy, just as complex, just as beautiful, with just as brilliant as our own. It had been within themib’s grasp for the whole film, but they just hadn’t noticed it

An alien comments, “That’s the problem with you humans; you think that just because something is small that it is unimportant.”

Have you ever imagined that there might be something of infinite significance right before your eyes, but that you have missed it, or seen it and failed to realise its value?

The bible’s claim is that the good news of Jesus Christ is the most significant thing that has ever happened on the face of the earth. And we don’t just mean that it was a history-shaping event, but that it will shape our eternal futures.

How then could something so mind-bogglingly significant seem to be so overlooked by people today? I mean, there are a lot more people out there than in here. And we all know of people who used to be in church on a Sunday morning who would prefer not to be here today.

If this is at the centre of God’s plan for the world, why does it appear so weak? why can people come, take a look at it and walk away as if they were merely looking at a museum exhibit.

And if this is surprising to us, we can’t begin to imagine how surprising it was to the disciples. Big crowds they could understand that. But, Jesus was perplexing. In some ways he seemed to be like the promised Messaiah to come – surely the messiah couldn’t do more miracles than Jesus. But he kept on hiding from people, and as we saw last week people you’d expect would be on his side weren’t. His family thought he was crazy. The religious leaders thought he was eveil. Why didn’t he just sort them out, get rid of the occupying Roman forces, take the throne and then everybody would be on his side.

If this really was the coming of the kingdom of God, it certainly surprised the disciples. But, in Mark chapter 4 we will see that Jesus might surprise us, but we don’t surprise Jesus. He knows our hearts, and gives in a series of parables a kind of map of the heart. A map to the different ways we might respond to him.

We are going to see two particular ways in which Jesus encourages us not to be unsurprised.

1) Don’t be surprised that the kingdom produces varying responses

2) Don’t be surprised that the kingdom seems so unimpressive.

Read mark 4:1-20 page…

1Again(A) he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him,(B) so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2And(C) he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3"Listen!(D) A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6And(E) when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root,(F) it withered away. 7Other seed fell among(G) thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and(H) a hundredfold." 9And he said, (I) "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

10And(J) when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, (K) "To you has been given(L) the secret of the kingdom of God, but for(M) those outside everything is in parables, 12(N) so that

"they(
O) may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they(
P) should turn and be forgiven."

13(Q) And he said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14(R) The sower sows(S) the word. 15And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it(T) with joy. 17And they have no root in themselves, but(U) endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately(V) they fall away.[a] 18And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19but(W) the cares of(X) the world and(Y) the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and(Z) bear fruit,(AA) thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

1) Don’t be surprised that the kingdom … produces varying responses

It is deeply sad when people whom we had every hope that they had come to true faith in Jesus begin to walk away.

One of the people that was deeply influential in my life married my wife Hannah and me. But by the time we returned from honeymoon he had left the church, and deserted his family, and remained unrepentant.

I remember sitting and asking myself, “How am I any different from that man”. If he has wandered away from following Jesus, then how can I have any confidence at all that I will be any different? I was certainly disillusioned with him. My temptation was to be disillusioned with the confidence of salvation that comes from following Jesus.

Jesus himself was aware that people walking away from him might cause confusion – and he addresses this confusion in the verses we’ve just read. We should be saddened when people walk away, but we shouldn’t be surprised.

The coming of the word has different responses, because the coming of the word reveals the state of the heart.

· The Hard heart

This isn’t the person who never hears – but the person who hears the gospel and doesn’t understand:

15And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

Like the well trodden path at the edge of the field, their heart is hard.

I love the description of when Aslan first speaks in the Magician’s Nephew. But the magician himself cannot hear Aslan’s voice who sings the world into existence and then speaks to his creatures.

“The longer and more beautifully the Lion sang, the harder Uncle Andrew tried to make himself believe that he could hear nothing but roaring. Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle Andrew did. He soon did hear nothing but roaring in Aslan's song. Soon he couldn't have heard anything else even if he had wanted to. And when at last the Lion spoke and said, "Narnians, awake," he didn't hear any words: he heard only a snarl.”

So it is with the hardened heart. It starts by hearing only what it wants to hear from God’s word, and ends up hearing nothing at all.

Scripture makes it clear that the only reason why we do not submit to Jesus’ kingship is not because his voice is unclear, but that we do not want to hear.

If you are not a Christian, Do you find the gospel uncomfortable – and whenever you hear it, something in you just wants to get out of the room. My friend, have you considered that it may be an uncomfortable truth that you would be foolish to flee from?

Or perhaps you are a young person with Christian parents. You’ve heard the good news about Jesus a thousand times; you could even explain it to others. Yet you remain determined not to allow it into your heart.

Do not be hardened soil. Allow God’s word to take deep root into your life. Don’t just let it affect your mind – let it affect your heart – that is the deepest part of you in which all your desires and decisions are rooted.

The hardened heart rejects the gospel before it has really ever understood it.

· The Shallow heart.

Like the soil in the parable, these people have a shallow response to the gospel.

16And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it(T) with joy. 17And they have no root in themselves, but(U) endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately(V) they fall away.[a]

This is the person who is looking for something that will make their life complete – and they begin to understand who Jesus is, and they profess faith in him. Notice that they even have joy. It is possible to sit here, listen to sermons, sing God’s praises with radiant faces, feel a joy that is very real, but not belong to jesus. It is possible to praise God with your lips but not belong to him.

How can you tell: when following Jesus begins to make their life harder rather than easier, they leave.

We must realise that to follow Jesus means to be hated like Jesus is hated. We all love to be loved.

But is the love of God sufficient for us – or do we insist that we must also be loved by others?

Have we found such depth of delight in Jesus that in times of suffereing and persecution we would join Job in saying, “Though he slay me, yet will I praise him.”

Thirdly Jesus describes a divided heart.

The divided heart

· Divided

18And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19but(W) the cares of(X) the world and(Y) the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

These people are not convinced that the gospel is untrue.

They are deceived away from it by the lie that the things of this world are worth living for.

Notice the deceitfulness of riches; if we are going to serve the things of this world we are being deceived. We have believed promises that they will not keep.

Promised security. But nothing but Jesus will not protect us on the day of judgement.

Promised pleasure. But if it takes us away from the everlasting pleasures of the kingdom it is nothing more than Turkish delight.

Promised intimacy. But all human intimacy is supposed to be a picture of the joy of faithful intimacy with our covenant Lord, and if it takes us away from him it is a poisoned apple.

Have you ever been so gripped by such a desire for something that you must have it and nobody will stand in your way?

But they are all the things of this world are passing, and drawing us away from the only one who can eternally deliver on his promises, who keeps all of his promises.

This is a deception that strangles God’s word in our lives. We so desire something in this world that when God’s word calls us away from it, we don’t want to hear. We block our spiritual ears. If Jesus insists on speaking to us, we would have him silenced.

We become like Bilbo Baggins in one of the first scenes of the Lord of the ring, when Gandalf is persuading him to leave the ring behind.

“I’m not trying to rob you. I’m trying to help you.”

To follow Jesus is to leave behind our demands for the things of this world; but to do so for we have found the pearl of great price that is worth selling it all for.

How will we come to this conclusion? We realise that Jesus is worth it only when we allow the word to speak to us. Listen. Think about it.

Jim Elliot was a missionary to Ecuador's Quichua Indians who was in the end murdered by those with whom he was trying to share the gospel. He once famously said, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot loose.” When he went to his death aged 28, he knew that to be true.

Will you instead cling onto what you cannot keep, and thereby loose what you will never regain?

I wonder how you feel about these negative responses to Jesus?

Do you find this discouraging? That so many who seem to be responding so positively to the gospel end up walking away from Jesus?

– does this make us question our own salvation?

Well, we are called in Scripture to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith: and this doesn’ mean merely to remember a time when we made a commitment and maybe even got baptised; it means to ensure that we are bearing fruit: trusting, loving, obeying Jesus today as we listen to his word..

- Don’t be discouraged into thinking that your salvation may be insecure: take warning yes… but if you are repenting and trusting in Jesus today you will be saved.

- You never got to see into the heart of the one who wandered away. If their wandering away is permanent, then they were never good soil.

- In fact the point of the sower throwing the seed everywhere was not to somehow turn bad soil into good soil, but to show up where the good soil is. You don’t want to miss the good soil, so you throw seed everywhere. Preaching the gospel has a dividing role, that Jesus intends it to have.

10And(J) when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11And he said to them, (K) "To you has been given(L) the secret of the kingdom of God, but for(M) those outside everything is in parables, 12(N) so that

"they(
O) may indeed see but not perceive,
and may indeed hear but not understand,
lest they(
P) should turn and be forgiven."

When we realise the sinfulness of our own hearts, and our ability to be deceived, the remarkable thing is that God has so worked in some people’s hearts that we are able to hear, and turn, and be forgiven. There is some good

20But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and(Z) bear fruit,(AA) thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold."

Note how this harvest is brought in.

Three things must happen.

- Hear

- Accept it

- Bear fruit.

We need to realize that we can only really help with the first. We can’t make people accept the gospel. We can’t produce fruit in others’ lives. But we can sow liberally.

If you are discouraged by the way in which people you’ve shared the gospel with have responded – then just keep on sowing. It is only by persistence in sharing the gospel that the good soil will be revealed. And that harvest will be a joy that will make up for all the rejection, and all the disappointment.

In Jesus’ times you were happy in a harvest if you yielded 7 times what you sowed. But even the least fruitful yields 30 times. It’s as if Jesus is saying that the fruit that is born in the world is somehow in God’s strange providence greater than if the whole field had been comprised of good soil.

There is greater glory brought to Jesus that people in his kingdom would love and serve him, though the majority of the world remained against him.

Your faithfulness in the face of such discouragement will bring great glory to Jesus. He is yet worth following. The joy of his kingdom will not diminish.

Don’t be disillusioned by mixed responses & temporary commitment. Rejoice that the glory brought to the Lord by those who do respond will be all the greater.

2. Don’t be surprised that the kingdom’s glory appears to be hidden

21(AB) And he said to them, (AC) "Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?

When we read this, we immediately think of the words of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel, “you are the light of the world”

But his words here are slightly different. This is not about us hiding or revealing the light. This is about the light hiding or revealing itself. Literally it reads not “is a lamp brought,” “does the lamp come”.

Jesus is the light who has come; but it seems that not everyone has seen him. Isaiah had predicted in chapter 9 “ 2[c](E) The people(F) who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of(
G) deep darkness,
on them has light shined.”

But, to a large degree Jesus doesn’t seem to be shining. Why is that. You go down the pub, and for the most part people aren’t talking about the fact that God has entered the world as a human being. They should be! Why are they talking about news so much less significant?

The concealment is

- Temporary: he will be revealed and with him everything else (21-23)

When Jesus comes in all his glory, not only will he be on a stand – but everything else will be seen by him.

Do you realise that? When we see Jesus fully, we will see everything else truly by his light.

Ecclesiastes: Should we just pursue the things of this world: no, we should pursue the Lord,

For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

In a similar section in Luke’s gospel Jesus says,

2There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

- Partial: the deeper one looks the more will be revealed. (24-25)

24"Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

The idea of the measure here is that Jesus is willing to be known. If you don’t see anything in him, it isn’t because there is nothing in him, but because you haven’t looked hard enough.

The story is told of a scientist who is the world expert on a certain kind of insect.….

Jesus isn’t concealed because he refuses to be known. He welcomes us to dig deeper into him. At times he conceals himself because he wants us to pursue him.

I wonder what you think about long sermons….

How to listen to sermons. I’m not making excuses for preaching for too long… but what is your expectation when the preacher stands up; is it that he has done all the work, so you can sit back and listen.

No! here’s some tips from my friend thabiti anybwile…

1. Meditate on the sermon passage during your quiet time.

2. Talk and pray with friends about the sermon after church

3. Listen to and act on the sermon throughout the week

4. 6. Cultivate humility. As you dig into God’s word, listening for His voice, you will no doubt begin to grow and discover many wonderful treasures. But as you grow, do not become a “professional sermon listener” who is always hearing but never learning. Beware of false knowledge that “puffs up” (I Cor. 1:8; Col. 2:18) and tends to cause strife and dissension. Mortify any tendencies toward pride, condemning others, and critical nit-picking. Instead, seek to meet Jesus each time you come to the Scripture; gather from the Word fuel for all-of-life worship. Instead of exalting ourselves, let us remember the Apostle Peter’s words: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time” (I Pet. 5:6). .

That’s just one area in which you can pursue Christ.

What is the measure used in your time, in what you read, in how you talk with other Christians?

The more of your life you spend for Christ, the more you will find that he is more than worth the investment.

Unlike choking weeds., Jesus makes wonderful promises in his word: and he always keeps them promises.

How many of his promises do you know?

Whenever you come across a promise that Jesus makes, write it down., Learn it off by heart, so that when the weeds are trying to strangle the word of God in your life, Jesus voice will speaking clearly to you, and you will be reminded that the promises held out by the word are far better than the promises held out by the weeds.

It is of vital importance that we know Jesus and put our trust in him.

How do we know that Jesus will keep all his promises.

GOSPEL

If we do not have this faith, one day we will have nothing.

25Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.

On Friday the latest Batman movie, the Dark Knight opened in the USA. It took at record-breaking $65m on the first day. The performance that everyone is talking about is the portrayal of batman’s enemy the Joker. There is talk that he will receive an Oscar for it; but it would be a posthumous Oscar. Heith Ledger, 28, died from an accidental prescription drug overdose in January.

The only thing that will matter for him now is not the Oscar. It is not the success of the film. It is not the fact that he will live on in the film. The only thing that will matter to him now is whether he had put his trust in the Lord Jesus before he died.

If we have Jesus we will have everything. If we don’t have him we will have nothing.

Perhaps you think these verses harsh. The haves will have more. The don’t haves will have absolutely nothing. There is no spiritual welfare state.

On that last day if we have faith in Jesus we will have everything; if we have many many blessing from Jesus, but do not belong to him, we will have nothing.

- Purposeful (26-29)

Who would have thought that this approach of Jesus’ would have lasted.

Since Jesus came, Empires have risen and fallen. Think of all the world’s superpowers: the Roman empire fell. The byzantine Empire. The ottoman empire. The British empire. They all rise and fall. But since the day when Jesus told these parables, the kingdom of God has only ever grown. I assume Billions of people have put their faith in Christ and been saved from an eternity in hell, vast numbers of whom have done so despite violent opposition and overwhelming temptation.

But it hasn’t finished yet. The Lord would have more turn from their sin and put their trust in Christ.

Will we here at Twynholm be a church that will dig deeply into God’s word. Will we count this world as something not to be lived for, but to be our mission field where we take this good news and sew generously, expecting to be frequently laughed at or hated, but telling it anyway for we know that as the word goes out it will do its work. Whether we ever see the fruit of it ourselves or not, the word will take root in some good soil, and grow here in Fulham even as it is all over the world.

- Glorious (30-34)

And one day it will be glorious. The kingdom of God will be the only thing in all of creation that actually matters.

Will we have spent our lives on the pursuit of a lie, or investing in the certain promises of our surprising king?

 
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