Gospel Living

Kingdom Parables | Mark 4:26–34 Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church Sunday Evening Service | 25 June, 2017 This evening, we are continuing our study in the parables.  We are looking at two parables that give us insight into the nature of the Kingdom of God.  We will see that the kingdom grows mysteriously and that the kingdom grows chiefly. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCKMwJjQcT4 Audio: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=627171650534 Sermon Notes Kingdom Parables | Mark 4:26–34 Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church Sunday Evening Service | 25 June, 2017 I.                Introduction Last time, we talked about The Parable of the Lamp and The Parable of the Measure.  These parables emphasize the need for the His disciples to hear the Word and deliver it to others faithfully.  So, we have two points this evening: those hearing God’s Word...

Parables on Hearing and Delivering the Word | Mark 4:21–25 Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church Sunday Evening Service | 18 June, 2017 These parables emphasize the need for the His disciples to hear the Word and deliver it to others faithfully.  So, we have two points this evening: those hearing God’s Word must shine it out faithfully, and those hearing God’s Word must measure it out faithfully. Video: Audio: Sermon Notes Parables on Hearing and Delivering the Word | Mark 4:21–25 Shaun Marksbury | Quacco Baptist Church Sunday Evening Service | 18 June, 2017 I.                Introduction Last time we saw the parable of the soils.  Historically, it’s called the parable of the sower, but we saw that Jesus’s emphasis was on the kinds of hearts that react to His Word.  ·         There are those who will never allow the Word to penetrat...

30  And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? 31  It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32  yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.  33  With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it. 34  He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. While it’s not the smallest of all seeds, the mustard seed is the smallest of all kosher seeds sown into the earth.  A large plant (from which we get everyone’s favorite condiment) sprouts from this seed, even though it’s only a tenth of an inch in diameter.  Similarly, the kingdom of God begins small, with the Word and the work of twelve, but it grows exponentially. ...

26  And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27  He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28  The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29  But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.” While we know a good bit about the growth cycle of plants, we don’t know everything.  That’s not to say that we can’t know much more through investigation, but we must admit that we have neither observed nor concluded all there is to know.  In a similar way, Scripture gives us need insight into spiritual botany, but God alone knows the full mystery of kingdom growth. First, we must note the spiritual mysteries of our own growth.   It’s clear that salvation is monergistic, worked by God alone (Eph 2:8–9).  Still, Scripture presents tension between repentance and regeneration—some...

And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  10  And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11  And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12  so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’  13  And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?’ ” An unfortunate reality of this fallen world are physical ailments and handicaps, such as hearing loss.  It’s a result of the indwelling sin that touches every fiber of our being.  Our first parents smuggled it into our genome.  As a result, we naturally have ears to hear the words of Christ, but we’re born spiritually deaf, and just to be doubly-sure, some still place their hands over their ears. God must cure spiritual dea...

7  Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. … 18  And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19  but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. The Word must be in soil to grow, and it must take root in a person’s heart.   Even so, thorns and thistles can arise in the heart before the Word can bear fruit, and these weeds strangle its life.  The person who doesn’t engage in some gardening in their souls remains unaware of the life God provides. The weed of worldly cares strangles the life of the Word.  If we put our hand to the plow and turn back, more concerned for what came before, then we lack transformation through the Word.  Jesus reminds us of this with His simple command, “Remember Lot’s wife” (Lk 17:32).  Those who seek friendship with the ...

Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, 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. 2  And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3  “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4  And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. … 14  The sower sows the word. 15  And 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. As we saw in the previous chapter, Jesus began teaching in parables—the parable of the sower here.  Though the image of a farmer scattering seed was common enough, the parable confuses His listeners, even His disciples (v. 10).  Though He’ll explain to them privately (vv. 13–20), the explanation of the parable isn’t for those on the outside (vv. 11–12).  As ...