“OUR NOT SO SECRET WEAPON” Mark 4:1-20
July 29, 2018 10:30 AM
By Jeremy B. Stopford
TODAY’S “SPECIAL”: A Grandma Funny
A pastor assured his congregation he was their servant and that they should feel free to call him anytime they had a problem.
That very night the pastor’s phone rang at 3 a.m. On the other end was a dear elderly lady who said, “Pastor, I can’t sleep.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that,” he comforted her.
“But what can I do about it?” the pastor said.
She sweetly replied, “Preach to me a while, pastor.”
INTRODUCTION
Let’s review our Savior’s lessons on servanthood:
(1) Memory verse: Mark 10:45
(2) In Chapter 1, the Savior taught us that servants see people through the eyes of His Father. As a result, we may be touching people that are the untouchables of life.
(3) In Chapter 2, through the story of the paralytic man, the Lord Jesus taught us that servants have faith. They trust the Lord that they will see people through His eyes, and have His eternal compassion on them.
(4) Finally, in Chapter 3, the Savior teaches us that true servants of the Lord, while recognizing the eternal battles to be fought, also see each day as “another time” to be used for His glory.
Today we will be treading familiar ground: the parable of the sower. But through this parable, once again we will learn about the servant of the Lord’s not so secret weapon. Do you know what it is? It’s no secret! PRAYER
# 1. OVERVIEW OF THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER
A This parable tells us that Jesus believes there is only one criteria which tells whether or not we are walking with the Lord, much less know the Lord as our Savior: the Word of God. Well, what is Jesus asking: “what is the priority of the Word of God in my life, in your life?” And “how is it falling on the soil of your heart?”
B. This parable also has a huge underlying message: how many different soils were there in the story? (4). How many different kinds of seeds were there? (only ONE – the Word of God!). So it is not the problem with the age old seed that causes hearts to be unreachable – like at one time your heart, and now your neighbor’s heart, and your brother’s heart, and your mother’s heart, and your boss’s heart, and your co-worker’s heart and…they are so unreachable for the Lord. It is not the problem with the seed! It is a heart problem!
ILLUSTRATION: So a man goes to the doctor and says, “doctor, I can’t breathe. I lose my breath just trying to go for walks.” The doctor knows the man has issues with frequent pneumonia, so he does an huge test on his lungs. His final conclusion: your problem is with your heart. He realized that he was checking the wrong organ! The heart was not functioning as it was designed to do. And our hearts are designed to by their Creator to respond to the Word of God. When they don’t, it means we are responding to the wrong voice – the voice of the enemy rather than the voice of the Good Shepherd.
C. Look at verse 20 – the Savior’s conclusion to this parable. What did we say before? How many different soils were there? (4). How many seeds? (1). So it shouldn’t surprise us that the Savior says that each one’s reception of the Word will be different as well. It is not wrong to be a 30 fold fruit bearer; nor a 60 fold fruit bearer, nor a 100 fold fruit bearer! The one that God has designed to bear 30 fold should not be ashamed that he is not an 100 fold fruit bearer. And the 100 fold fruit bearer cannot gloat it over the 60 fold fruit bearer simply because God enables him to bear significantly more fruit. I’m not Billy Graham. But I’m Jeremy Stopford. You’re not Hudson Taylor, one of the fathers of modern missions. But you are you. And the Lord has equipped you to be a servant for Him where He has wisely put you, and with the gifts that are unique to you. And in turn bring glory to the Good Shepherd, the Gift Giver, for what He enables and equips you to do!
# 2 OVERVIEW OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH 6:1-10
In the midst of this amazing account, the Lord alludes to what appears to be an obscure passage from Isaiah 6. Let’s turn there.
What is the context of verses 9-10 which are quoted by the Savior? King Uzziah, a most godly king, has been a tremendous blessing both to the nation of Israel as well as to the prophet Isaiah. They worked well together. Uzziah led; Isaiah counseled with the Word of the Lord. IF it is true that Isaiah 6 is early on in Isaiah’s ministry, it means that the most impressionable young prophet was devastated by the death of the king. All that goodness that Uzziah exuded in his leadership was now gone. There were uncertainties as to whether or not his son would be as wise and good a leader. It is not written here, but it is most understood: Isaiah’s mourning took the form of a wonder as to “who would be in charge? Where will we go from here? How can we make it through this dark period of our nation’s life, much less my life?”. You and I have been there – whether at the passing of a loved one, or the loss of certain income, or the sudden mistrust of a longtime close friend. Where do we go from here? How can we make it through?
And then? Isaiah saw the vision of the Throne of God. He saw Who truly is in charge! He saw the Lord in His glory, and all questions, all uncertainties were settled – even though they were not yet lived out.
But the story doesn’t end there. The reaching for the live coals, the placing on the prophet’s mouth, the purging/cleansing of the prophet, and his availability to be a servant for the King of kings.
Please note the plurality in unity of the revelation of God. What? The question!!!! “Whom shall I send? And who will go for US?” And Isaiah’s response should be the response of every servant of the Lord: “here am I – send…SOMEONE ELSE! ARE YOU KIDDING? Do you know me? I get scared in public! I’m no good around people! I’ve got a good job! Don’t mess with my time schedule for my life! Please! I’m no good to go! Send Carl! Or Bill! But not me!”
No, while our fears may have those answers, our surrender as the Lord’s servant will calmly say on bended knee and bended heart, “here am I, send me.” Is that my heart, your heart, my response, your response today?
But the story doesn’t end there either! Verses 9-10 are quoted in our passage in Mark 4. As with the servants who heard the parable of the sower, the Lord tells Isaiah what to expect from those who are hearing the Word of God on different soils: “the people to whom I have sent you have calloused hearts; they have deaf ears; they have closed their eyes to the truth.”
What is Jesus telling us in Mark 4 by quoting this passage from Isaiah 6? That people are the same in every generation. Even 2000 years later. People are comfortable. We think we are privileged. We are owed care. And as a result, we are in ourselves deaf and blind to the love of God in Christ Jesus. The Savior reminds His present day servants of the Lord that the people to whom He has sent them in themselves have no use for Him. They are without God and without hope. It will take a modern day miracle for their hearts to change, just as it did in Isaiah’s day and in the days of our Savior.
CONCLUSION
So how could Jesus’ disciples expect to minister to such an ornery people? How were they expected to be used by Him to begin what would become the modern church of God? How is it possible that God could take the unskilled servants and turn the world upside down for Him through them? How? How? How?
The answer is through our not-so-secret weapon!
Key verse for servants: v. 10. When Jesus was alone, the 12 and others felt the freedom to ask Him about the parables. They knew to come to the One Who would teach them how to…pray! They knew they could approach Him with all their uncertainties in life! They knew they could ask Him about the different soils of the heart. They knew they could mourn with Him when the Word of God fell upon a heart which ultimately had no use for the Word. They knew they could rejoice with Him when the Word of God fell upon a heart that was tender for the Savior. They knew they could serve Him as His servants because they had this secret weapon: the weapon of prayer. These servants were never alone – the Savior was only a prayer away.
TODAY, the King of kings asks His present day servants: Has My Word fallen on good soil in your heart? Does it daily encourage that soil? And are you taking advantage of the not so secret weapon of spending time with Me in prayer?” How would you answer Him today?
Close in prayer.
The Reverend Jeremy B. Stopford is pastor of the First Baptist Church in Earlville, New York.
Jeremy Stopford, and his wife Thuvia,
The love and devotion of pastors like Jeremy Stopford, are often eclipsed by the notoriety of often lesser men who build the impersonal and sometimes spiritually-bankrupt mega-churches of our age.
—Frank Becker