The Purpose of the Parables

In this part of the sermon: Martin analyzes the disciples' question in Mark 4:10, detailing where it was asked (in relative aloneness), who asked it (the twelve and other close disciples), and its substance…

Explains that Jesus being 'alone' is relative, contrasting it with his previous public teaching from a boat to a multitude, to clarify the intimate setting for the disciples' question.

It is not speaking of an aloneness in an absolute sense, but in a relative sense. If he was completely alone, then the only way he could be made aware, of the question of the disciples, would be by means of a note or a messenger. But it is speaking in the context of the contrast between the circumstance that we have tried to envision week after week in our study of the parable of the soils, namely the circumstance described in verse 1 of chapter 4. A vast multitude is gathered upon the shore of the lake or sea of Galilee, and the Lord Jesus is pushed out in a boat, a boat a bit from the shore,...

7:06 - 8:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin analyzes the disciples' question in Mark 4:10, detailing where it was asked (in relative aloneness), who asked it (the twelve and other close disciples), and its substance…

Instructs the audience to replace the image of Jesus teaching from a boat to a multitude in a natural amphitheater with a more secluded, intimate setting, likely a house, to properly envision the context of the disciples' question.

And his disciples came unto him, saying, Explain unto us the parable of the tares of the field. As we have seen again and again, the gospel writers are not wooden in their account of the various events and ministries of the Lord Jesus, and we have these differing dimensions and perspective, and it could well be that the very thing that Matthew is describing is what Mark is setting before us in this passage. So we must change the mental picture that I have been trying to create for you and help you to create week after week for eight or nine weeks. We've got to get rid of the image now of the h...

8:24 - 9:47 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin analyzes the disciples' question in Mark 4:10, detailing where it was asked (in relative aloneness), who asked it (the twelve and other close disciples), and its substance…

Illustrates the flexible meaning of 'disciples' in the Gospels, sometimes referring only to the twelve, and other times including a broader group of followers, to explain who was present when the question was asked.

So when we turn to the passage and note the question raised, Mark draws our attention, first of all, to the place in which the question was raised, and it was a question raised not in the midst of the vast, thronging, mixed, and fickle multitude, but in the more intimate context of our Lord's aloneness. Now in the second place, with reference to the question, notice who asked or raised the question. Mark says, Now this is a detail that we find only in Mark. In the parallel passage in Matthew 13 and Luke 8, we are told that the disciples asked a certain question of our Lord. And the word discip...

9:48 - 10:48 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Now that very terminology Jesus picks up and now he introduces to redefine who the people of God are. And he says, to you, that is, my spiritual family, who hear the word of God. And do it. To you is given to know, but t…

Explains the Jewish terminology for Gentiles as 'those without' to illuminate Jesus's redefinition of who is 'within' and 'without' the community of God's people, based on spiritual union rather than ethnicity.

And now the Lord underscores in response to their question that identification of these two distinct categories of men. And there is introduced in Mark terminology that becomes very precise terminology folding of the New Testament. Notice verse 11. Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom, but unto them that are without. Two words in the Greek. Those without. And that was the very terminology the Jews used to use to describe the Gentiles. They didn't care what kind of a Gentile you were. Rich, poor, from a nation that was infamous, or a nation that was cultured. If you were a non-Jew, you ...

23:26 - 24:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Something formerly hidden but now revealed and imparted to those spiritually qualified to receive it.

Compares the biblical concept of 'mystery' to a detective story or something spooky, then clarifies that in Scripture, it's a truth hidden by God until his appointed time of revelation.

Now what's he talking about? Well, the word mystery to us speaks of something either spooky or a detective story that's got all kinds of strands and plots in it, and you can't unravel it till you read the last page of your Agatha Christie novel. But in Scripture, a mystery is basically this, a truth that can only be known if God reveals it and his time to reveal it has come. So the mystery is the unfolding of that mystery.

29:17 - 29:47 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Something formerly hidden but now revealed and imparted to those spiritually qualified to receive it.

Contrasts the Jewish expectation of the kingdom of God as a mighty warrior on a charger with Jesus's teaching of it being established like a defenseless sower, highlighting the 'mystery' of its true nature.

We have studied one of them. How will the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God be established? Not in the way that the Jews had conceived, not under the imagery of a mighty warrior coming on a charger and swaying his enemies, but a defenseless, unarmed sower going out with a sheet bag, throwing salt. And much of it being wasted.

30:52 - 31:20 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Something formerly hidden but now revealed and imparted to those spiritually qualified to receive it.

Compares the kingdom of God to a 'little bit of yeast hidden in a loaf of bread' to illustrate its silent, gradual, and imperceptible growth, contrary to carnal expectations.

Why the kingdom of God must come in the form of a rival military political power and will replace Rome? And Messiah will take over in Caesar's place. And as you study those parables in Matthew 13, everything about the kingdom is just the opposite. It's like a little bit of yeast hidden in a loaf of bread.

31:46 - 32:07 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Do you think I want to stand and preach that the God whom we worship is not only the God who graciously grants spiritual illumination, but he righteously pardons men? But I am not at liberty to alter my Lord's words.

Explains the literal meaning of 'make the heart of this people fat' as 'greasy' to emphasize the repulsive and horrible nature of Isaiah's commission to bring judicial hardness.

in principled obedience. And that's what happened to Isaiah. He didn't need to hear a tear-jerking story from a missionary. He didn't need to see pictures of him. He didn't need to see pictures of him. He didn't need to see pictures of emaciated bodies and hear all kinds of... No, no. He saw God and he tasted grace. And he said, I'm not my own. I'm yours, Lord. Take me. I'll do whatever you want me to do. Now listen to what God says to him. All right, Isaiah, I'm going to send you. Verse 9. And he said, go and tell this people, hear indeed, but understand not. See indeed, but perceive not. Now...

41:52 - 42:38 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Do you think I want to stand and preach that the God whom we worship is not only the God who graciously grants spiritual illumination, but he righteously pardons men? But I am not at liberty to alter my Lord's words.

Uses the metaphors of 'filling their ears up with grace' and 'creating scales over their eyes' to describe how God's judgment works by giving more light and truth, which, when rejected, leads to greater hardness and blindness.

without inhabitants. Let man and the land become utterly wasted. Isaiah, you're going to preach men into a blindness until the judgment of God carries them into captivity. I've sent my prophets to them day and night, reminding them of my covenant love, my covenant faithfulness, reminding them of their covenantal vows, pointing out their sin, calling them to repentance. But the more I sent my servants, the more they stopped their ears, the more light I brought upon their spiritual eyeballs, the more they put their hands upon it. Now, Isaiah, your ministry will do this in my righteous judgment u...

43:30 - 44:32 Read in full sermon

The point: If you see Christ and the true nature of the kingdom, understand that it has been 'given' to you by God's grace, leading to humility and gratitude.

Quotes a hymn to express the humbling reality that spiritual sight and conversion are a gift of God's sovereign grace, not earned by human choice.

thee to differ? Lord, we sang this morning. Why was I made to hear thy voice? And enter while there's room when thousands make a wretched choice, and rather starve than come.

53:20 - 53:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Desist from rejecting light and stopping your ears to God's word, because there comes a point where God's spirit will no longer strive, leading to irreversible spiritual blindness and a worse hell.

Quotes Matthew Henry's statement that 'the saddest condition a man can be in this side of hell is to sit under the most lively ordinances with a dead, stupid, and untouched heart,' to underscore the frightening warning of spiritual insensitivity.

place a frightening warning. A frightening warning. Great light resulted in greater judgment. Listen to Matthew Henry. He stated it better than any of the twenty or so commentators I read. Listen to Matthew Henry. The saddest condition a man can be in this side of hell is to sit under the most lively ordinances with a dead, stupid, and untouched heart.

54:29 - 54:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Desist from rejecting light and stopping your ears to God's word, because there comes a point where God's spirit will no longer strive, leading to irreversible spiritual blindness and a worse hell.

Uses the analogy of turning up decibels and putting more grease in ears to illustrate how God intensifies the light and truth for those who reject it, thereby increasing their judicial hardness and making their hell worse.

I'll turn up the decimals and you'll have to put more grease in your ears. And I fear, though I have no grounds to say of any one in particular, that would be presumption. I tell you the warning is here that you better say it to yourself. Could it be that God's brought me under this ministry to give me judicial heart? Few things make me want to quit the ministry, but the fact that I have reason to believe that dimension of God's work is done even now in the ministry scares me. How do I know it's still done? Because Paul said, we are a saver of life unto life and of death. If I may state it in ...

56:17 - 57:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Pray on, cry on, witness on, plead on, knowing that God can give the mystery of the kingdom in any situation.

Cites Saul of Tarsus as an example of someone who seemed beyond hope but was converted by God, encouraging continued prayer for the unconverted.

You'd have to have direct revelation, and God doesn't give that. I've warned those in that condition, but I'd encourage those of you who think someone may be in that condition. If anyone looked like he was in that condition, Saul the Tarsus did. God got him.

61:16 - 61:30 Read in full sermon