Summary of Our Lord's Preaching in Parables

Introduction: Mark's Summary of Jesus' Parabolic Ministry

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, February 24th, 1985, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:15 Now may I encourage you to turn with me in your own Bibles to the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, Mark's Gospel, chapter 4, and follow as I read, beginning with verse 26, and conclude the reading at verse 34, Mark 4 and verse 26.

0:45 Referring to our Lord, Mark writes, And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knows not how. The earth bears fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the fruit is ripe, straightway he puts forth the sickle, because the harvest is come. And he said, How shall we like in the kingdom of God?

1:28 Or in what parable shall we set it forth?

1:33 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown upon the earth, though it be less than all the seeds that are upon the earth, yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes greater than all the herbs, and puts out great branches, so that the birds of the heaven can lodge under the shadow thereof. And with many such parables spake he the word, unto them, as they were able to hear it. And without a parable spake he not unto them, but privately to his own disciples he expounded all things. Now let us again look to God in prayer, that God by the Spirit would come and graciously illuminate our minds in the understanding of his word.

2:31 Our Father, as we have read that the Lord Jesus, privately expounded all things to his own, we would come to him as our great prophet, our great teacher, and plead with you that here in this place today we may know his ministry by the Spirit through the word, expounding all things to us. May each one be taught of him, as together we examine his own heart, and by his holy and infallible word send the Spirit to help preacher and listener alike. We ask in his worthy name. Amen. In our studies together in the Gospel of Mark, we come this morning to an examination of verses 33 and 34. Stated very simply, these two verses constitute a summary statement of the section which began, with verses 1 and 2 of this fourth chapter, the section in which our Lord's teaching was primarily teaching of the multitudes in parabolic form,

3:55 coupled with private instruction to the inner circle of his followers. It is abundantly clear from the plain language of chapter 4 and verse 2, that at this period in our Lord's ministry in the upper part of heaven, of Palestine, in the Galilean region, that the use of parables became dominant in his teaching and in his preaching. He taught them many things in parables. And in this summary statement, that fact is again stated in plain, simple, straightforward directness and clarity, verses 34 and 5.

4:38 He spoke unto them with many such parables, and without a parable he did not speak to them. Furthermore, our studies in this chapter have shown us that in addition to the ministry in parables to the multitudes, that our Lord also would interpret and explain the meaning of these parables to the inner circle of his disciples. His true spiritual brethren described in chapter 3 and verse 35, those who hear and do the word of God, are described again in verse 10 of chapter 4. They that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And this group is again brought into sharp focus in the latter part of verse 34, but privately to his own disciples he expounded all things. Now I trust that each of you can see that what we have in verses 34 and 35 is nothing more or less than Mark's summary of this portion of our Lord's ministry. A portion in his ministry when parables were the dominant method of his instruction,

The Summary of Jesus' Public Ministry to the Multitudes: Substance, Form, and Measure

6:00 and when he gave instruction in uninterpreted, unexplained parables to the multitudes, and explained, expounded parables to the inner circle of his followers. And as we come then to this summary statement, we have before us a rich supply of helpful instruction, and may God enable us to apply our minds both to understand the teaching of the passage and to extract its application to our hearts. And what we have first of all in the text, the text of verses 33 and 34, is the summary of his public ministry to the multitudes. A summary of our Lord's public ministry to the multitudes. The text reads, And with many such parables he spoke the word unto them. Now who the them are is clear from the immediate context, for the them is contrasted in verse 34 with his own disciples.

7:12 So the them of verse 33 is that large multitude described in chapter 4 and verse 1. There is gathered unto him a very great multitude, so that he entered into a boat and sat in the sea, and all the multitude were by the sea on the land. So here Mark is giving us a summary statement of our Lord's public ministry to that multitude. That multitude comprised of some of those hardened Pharisees who were already undergoing the process of judicial hardening for their willful blindness.

7:56 In that multitude were the curiosity seekers. They had heard of the vast number and the manifold nature of his miracles, and many of them perhaps were hoping to see some amazing display of power. There were others that we might call the confused followers of the religious leaders of their day who sensed something qualitatively different in the Lord Jesus and in his teaching. They had commented when he finished the Sermon on the Mount, no man speaks like this man.

8:28 He speaks with authority, not as their scribes and their own official religious teachers. Then of course scattered throughout that multitude were the twelve who had been called into peculiar levels of intimacy with Christ, and other true and earnest seekers who had seen in Jesus of Nazareth something more than a teacher, something more than a miracle worker. They had at least to some degree begun to see in him God's anointed Messiah, and their hearts were bound to him in faith and love manifested in a life of obedience. And as Mark sets before us this summary statement of our Lord's ministry to this multitude, he tells us three things about that ministry. First of all, he tells us something concerning the substance of his teaching. Then he gives us a word as to the form of his teaching, and finally, the measure of his teaching. So our Lord's teaching to the multitude, first of all, is set before us in terms of its substance.

9:42 Look at the language of the text. And with many such parables, and here's the main verb of the statement, spoke the word unto them. The substance of his teaching was nothing other than a speaking of the word unto them. Now in this very setting, our Lord has already identified what that word is.

10:13 In chapter 4 and verse 14, when he interpreted the parable of the sower, he said, The sower soweth the word. And that word was the message of the kingdom, the proclamation that the kingdom had come in the person of the king. And it was a kingdom of grace and of righteousness. And it was a message that was characterized by the great themes that are given to us in some detail in the Sermon on the Mount.

10:45 It was a message in which our Lord was demonstrating the inward work of grace by which men and women are constituted members of that kingdom he has come to establish. It was a kingdom of righteousness in which the subjects of that kingdom are committed to evangelical obedience to the law. They are concerned about a life which right down to the deepest springs of thought and motive is regulated by God's holy and inflexible law. It is a life of faith in which they are to come to know and trust and relate to God as their loving Father, the God who cares for sparrows in the grass of the field, who shows much more care for his own. This message, this preaching of the word is flushed out in such passages as the Sermon on the Mount, but it obviously brought together those dominant themes of who God is, what sin is, what grace is, what grace produces in the life of those who embrace the message of grace in repentance and faith. You see, the substance of our Lord, the Lord's teaching, was nothing more or less than a proclamation of the message of God.

12:12 It was a word which announced that in His person the great emancipator, the great burden-bearer had come. To this vast multitude, with all of its diversity of spiritual perspective, with all of its diversity of spiritual appetite, even with the perversity of Pharisees who are undergoing judicial blindness, Jesus had one message. He preached the word unto them. Though many in the masses would love to have seen something that was unusual and to see the Lord Jesus as later on, they requested of Him, snap His fingers and make the planets play leapfrog with one another. They wanted a sign from heaven. What Jesus did when He had these people before Him was to push out a little from the shore, sit in that boat, and preach the word of God unto them. He had no religious circus to bring to town, no sensational juggling of the stars, no titillating of idle curiosity, nothing but the word.

13:28 Let me say by way of application, His task is the task He has committed to His church. And in the church's efforts to reach the masses, the church is to be like her Lord with a religious circus. She is not to come to the masses titillating idle curiosity. She is to come to the masses with the word of the living God.

13:57 That word is to be preached earnestly. It is to be preached fittingly. It is to be preached with animation and passion. And love and concern, yes.

14:08 But the masses then when they are recording to God's word by the teaching and preaching of the word. That was the substance of His teaching. But now notice in the second place what Mark tells us by way of a summary of this portion of his ministry about the form of His teaching. The text says, With many such parables spake He the word unto them, verse 34, and without a parable spake He not unto them.

The Form of Jesus' Public Teaching: Parables and Their Reasons

14:49 The form of His teaching at this time was obviously top-heavy with parables. Those were central to the form of His teaching. Now because of the peculiar circumstances of men's attitudes and reactions at this point in our Lord's ministry, Jesus, for wise and good reasons, chose the parabolic method. That is, He wrapped up the great and profounds of the kingdom in a package of stories, of likenesses to common occurrences that impinged upon the life experience of all of His hearers. When He talked about a sower going forth to sow, all of His hearers could relate to that picture that they had seen year in and year out. There in Palestine. When He talked in the parables we have studied about the farmer who sowed his seed and then in a sense could do nothing until harvest with respect to that seed, and its growth was a mystery to Him, they could all relate to it.

16:01 And when He talked of the mustard seed that grew to a large bush as large as a tree, what He was doing as to the form of His teaching was taking the great substantial truths of the kingdom of God and setting them before people wrapped up in parables. Now He had many reasons for doing this. One of them we have already seen in the earlier part of the chapter. For those Pharisees who in their willful blindness and those other Jews who in their willful blindness refused to see the kingdom of God, the parable became an instrument of judicial hardening.

16:42 All they heard was a fascinating story and as soon as possible they even dismissed the story from their minds. But the parable was not only an instrument of judgment upon such. The parable you see would stick in the minds of some who at this stage had only begun to see the very shadowy outlines of the kingdom. Jesus taught in such a way that He would at least snag their minds with a story that would take root hopefully later on.

17:15 As the kingdom begins to develop under His ministry and subsequently under the ministry of the apostles whose ministry is concentrated in Jerusalem and Judea and that whole Palestinian area after Pentecost, that then some of the stories that had been sown in their minds like the very mustard seed would then germinate and come to life. And then of course obviously for His true followers who were not content simply to hear and forget or simply to hear and have it tucked away in the file drawers of the mind they knew that beneath the simple story was a substantial truth and they had no rest until they were alone with the Lord Jesus and He expounded all things to them. So you see He chose this form of teaching for a diversity of reasons. But Mark clearly indicates that at this time with many such parables so that the emphasis falls upon such parables. Most of His parables were like the ones that Mark has recorded.

18:28 They were derived from common everyday experiences many of them from the agrarian dimension of life. Seed and trees and treasures in the field as we find in Matthew 13. And there were many of them so that there was nothing at this time that He attempted to teach that He did not clothe in a parable. And as we see something of our Lord's fertile mind and a mind that continually saw in the book of nature truths out of the book of grace one can only imagine the profuseness of parables stored up in that holy mind and poured forth at a season such as this. Suffice it to say that this summary statement tells us that as surely as the substance of His teaching was the Word of God the form was and let me say briefly by way of application surely we are to learn something from this instance and not only admire the wisdom of our Savior as a public teacher but we ought to imitate Him. He brought the Word

19:56 is the Word but the Word in a form suited to the peculiar circumstances of the time a Word suited and tailor made to the complexion of His hearers for the hardened ones this form and became the very instrument of their judicial blindness for the curious but ignorant ones it became a seed sown the very form attracted them and without knowing it their hearts were being opened to the seed that later would blossom under the blessing of God into full blown attachment to the exalted and glorified Christ for true disciples for whom the parable was but a springboard for further inquiry and learning it became the very open door to the mind and the heart of our Savior and in this the Lord Jesus has set a pattern for us we like Him are to attempt to reach men with the message of grace in one way we are to convey the Word in the church in the home in our evangelistic endeavors we are to reach the masses with the Word only the Word spoken the Word preached the Word taught the Word printed

21:21 but that Word can have an infinite variety even as in this instance He preached the Word but He did so in parables and here we must take to heart our Lord's injunction be wise as serpents harmless as doves we must follow Paul who said being clean I caught you with guile there is a doctrine of holy guile a way in which we can present the Word and catch men off their guard and before they know it they've opened their minds and spirits to the truth and we sneak in as it were through the back door and seek to seize upon the conscience with the Word of God there is a wonderful richness of variety as to the form in which the Word is conveyed we never have anything else as to substance but as to form love is enterprising love is ingenious and as parents conveying the Word to our children there may be a better way at certain stages in their development than you pops sitting there lecturing for half an hour at the table there may be says it would not be right for you to assign to your children

22:50 different characters that are in the passage and when there is a historical narrative and when there is dialogue to have one read the part of David and one the part of Jonathan and then to say alright if you were David and you said that what was you see to use the interlocutory method the question and answer that's a form that our Lord used the forms are manifold the substance one and that also tells us never get locked into your quote favorite kind of preaching may God make us a people who understand what it means when it says all bringing the one Word of and I hope you have hearts long enough large enough to embrace them all and to profit from them all but then we note in the third place in this summary about our Lord's teaching to the multitudes not only a word about the substance it was the Word of God the form parabolic but the measure of His teaching here's an interesting phrase and with many such parables spake He the Word unto them

The Measure of Jesus' Public Teaching: Sensitivity to Hearers' Capacity

24:08 they were able to hear it and that word as literally means to the extent that to the degree that to hear it in other words the measure of His teaching was their recognized present ability not to hear inwardly hear the word hear simply means to listen with attention so the measure of His teaching was based on their previous knowledge and their present receptivity so it is clear that Jesus was not one of those preachers who droned most of His listeners were glassy-eyed nodding distracted and bored to death nor was He insensitive to legitimate physical needs and perhaps that's even included in this remember where He was teaching He was in a boat every indication is that it was during at least the middle the early middle or later part of the day it was still light and the burning Palestinian sun is hot the Lord was not indifferent to the physical states

25:36 of those to whom He preached remember in another context He said they have been following and listening to My words they are hungry let's care for their physical needs and so our Lord's teaching according to Mark teaching to the multitudes was characterized by this measure of His teaching He was sensitive to that which they were able to hear now once again by way of application let me underscore that here our Lord is the model of grace of sensitivity and consideration as He took into account their previous knowledge their present receptivity physical factors of heat and food and all of these other concerns He understood no one truth that was crammed down His throat truth is not saying that gee the first time He saw someone indifferent or distracted suddenly quit and said well there's someone who's not able to take anything more I'll quit if I quit every time I looked out and saw someone fighting sleep you'd probably only get more than about fifteen minutes of preaching any given Lord's day I've already seen one or two this morning it's very humbling very humbling to be up here pouring out the fruit of hours of labor not droning on in a monotone

27:04 not simply hollering and ranting until in self-defense you go to sleep together but trying to have variety in the tone of voice trying to be earnest speak to your and yet even here this morning I've seen people going like this now if the Lord did that the first time He saw one person and quit He probably wouldn't have much that He preached either so I am not saying that because there may be someone who's had a particularly rough night someone who may be hypoglycemic and forgot to take enough intake to keep the blood sugar level up that's why I don't judge anyone who does it occasionally I don't judge you there are all these factors but what is emphasized that in terms of the basic complexion of the multitude Jesus was not indifferent to their ability to receive the Word of God we are told that He preached the Word according to the measure of their ability to hear and that's a great lesson not only that we preachers need but you parents need I have sat in the family worship of some families and I marveled that the kids didn't become rebels there's no sense in reading a Bible study in the academy for a semester and the poor kids to be still

28:32 and pay attention and on and on or dad sensitive to the ability of your children intellectually physically weather factors now I'm that you should let them con you into thinking that after three minutes they've had all they can take now there's a flip side to all of this and I know sure as anything nobody will abuse this and say well Pastor Martin said if your kid can't take more than three minutes I didn't say that longer than three minutes but that's your problem not mine so don't you lay that guilt on me that's your problem but oh what I'm saying the Savior teaching where there is this vice and abilities reflect Him this was to the multitudes Mark is referring in speaking to them He taught them as they were able to receive it he who spoke as no man ever spoke the perfect preacher did not assume that his hearers had unlimited capacity to hear him you got that young preachers the perfect preacher who spoke

The Summary of Jesus' Private Ministry to His Disciples: Recipients and Nature

30:02 as no man did not assume unlimited capacity in his hearers much less should you when you're just beginning to stretch your wings be preaching one hour sermons better be a long time of proven ability to preach unto edification and to hold men's interest before you go preaching one hour sermons well I must hasten on now to examine with you lest I violate my own exhortations what is given us in the text concerning the summary of his private ministry to the inner circle of his followers you see Mark not only summarizes his public ministry to the multitudes in substance form and measure but he also summarizes his private ministry to the inner circle of his followers in two ways the recipients of the private ministry and the nature of the private ministry look at the latter part of verse 34 but here's a contrast privately to his own disciples he expounded all things now who were the recipients of his private ministry our English Bibles read his own disciples

31:28 and here is one of those places where the richness of the original simply does not come through in an English translation Mark uses a word which means his very own his peculiarly possessive he possessed disciples the word he uses describes a personal possession something that is mine and no one else's something which is in my possession in contrast to anyone else's possession and so the recipients of this private ministry were his very own disciples those whom the Lord Jesus gladly owned as his special possession now who were they he described them in the latter part of chapter 3 when that group came saying that your mother and your brothers are without calling you he said who is my mother and my brethren and looking round on them that sat round about him he said behold my mother and my brethren whosoever shall do the will of God the same is my brother sister and mother here was the company bound to him in cords of faith and love those who had come

32:57 to see in the Lord Jesus that which was worthy of the utter resignation of themselves to him now the level of their spiritual perception varied even among those of the inner circle they were not yet clear about the necessity of the crucifixion later on when Jesus will tell them I must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die and be raised from the dead do you remember Peter said no no Lord that's inconsistent with who you are and what you've come to do their understanding of what we would call the full or message of the gospel was very limited that had to await the unfolding of the events in time but they could say with Peter that they saw in him something more than a prophet something more than one of the prophets who do men say that I am well some say this and that but who do you say I am and Peter said thou art the Christ son of the living God and though he did not clearly see that as the Messiah if he were to fulfill his role as anointed priest he had to die the death of the cross he did not understand that yet but this he knew he is more than man he is God's anointed one I am bound to him in cords of faith and love irrevocably attached

34:24 to the Lord Jesus these were the recipients of the private ministry his very own disciples you see unlike the vast mixed multitude who saw a great and fascinating teacher some of them others they had heard of him as a great powerful miracle worker others who saw in him one they regarded as an impostor those wicked unbelieving Pharisees and scribes there was a vast room of diversity of opinion regarding him in the vast multitude but the common denominator of this group his very own disciples is that they saw in Jesus of Nazareth one who was worthy of unreserved allegiance and of the abandonment of faith and it was to this group that he spoke in private the recipients of his private ministry were his very own disciples and what was the nature of that private ministry look at the text he expounded all things privately to his very own disciples he expounded all now the word for expound in this

35:53 verbal form is found only here in the New Testament no other place in the New Testament in the noun form it's found in second Peter one twenty no scripture is a private interpretation and the etymology of the word or the word in terms of its etymology if it were to be translated literally expounded to release or to set free came to be used for expounding what had he been doing he had been setting forth the kingdom of God in parables my fist is the substance and the reality of the kingdom it is now wrapped in my handkerchief I'm using a mode of teaching that's legitimate an object lesson you see now what did the multitude see they saw the kingdom wrapped in a parable but when he got his own aside in a quiet place what did he do he set the substance from the parable and he laid bare the inner essence you kids at Christmas time when mom's got a bowl of nuts on the table should you have a bowl of nuts at Christmas time or some other time what do you do when you want to get to the meat of the nut well you've got to take the nut cracker you have to take the little hammer

37:22 the little pliers and you have to crack the nut like the shell and the substance was the meat and while he had them alone what did Jesus do he released the meat from the shell he released the heart the pulp from the external form he pulled away as it were the veiled representation of the kingdom and he spoke to them as he did with the parable of the sower and he says now here's the meaning in Matthew 13 with the parable he said now this is the meaning of the wheat the tares and the reapers and this is what our Lord went on doing for the forms of the verbs point to a pattern of activity at this time so the nature of his private ministry was to expound to lay bare to set free and to release these things from their parabolic shell and covering that they might understand the heart now when it says he expounded all things that's not all things absolutely for you remember later on he said to these very disciples I have many things to say unto you but you are what not yet able to hear them but he means all things in terms of the parables that were spoken to the multitudes by the sea just earlier that day so that

38:51 at the end of the day in the parallel passage in Matthew thirteen Jesus could ask this question Matthew thirteen and verse fifty one have you understood all these things that's at the end of the parables and they say unto him yea so you see the all things has reference not to all things absolutely and extensively but all things are well of all things are in the history of the Holy Testament and in it is also one of that is the most important in all things that those things And then his ministry to the inner circle, the recipients, his own disciples, the nature of that private ministry, he was setting free, he was releasing, he was expounding all things to them.

Application 1: The Distinction Present in Preaching – Multitude vs. His Own

40:12 Now as we bring the study to a focus, and I trust to practical application, let me set before you three things that are, to my judgment, very vital lessons contained in the passage, though we've applied along the way, I want now to concentrate upon application alone. First of all, this passage reveals a distinction which is present wherever and whenever the Word of God is spoken. This passage reveals a distinction which is present wherever and whenever the Word of God is preached. This passage speaks of two groups of people, the multitudes with that vast spectrum of everything from hostility to intense curiosity and everything in between, but that which fell short of the kind of attachment to Christ, that would make it right to say that they were His very own. And that distinction is present wherever and whenever the Word of God is preached. With but rare exceptions, it is present here this morning.

41:35 Every one of you shows at least some degree of interest in the Word of Christ or you wouldn't be here. You'd be home reading the Sunday paper. You'd be home reading the New Testament. You'd be home reading the New Testament.

41:46 sleeping late. You'd be out putting around in your garden in this beautiful spring day that's dawned upon us, as it were, out of nowhere and rather early. That's what you'd be doing. But you see, like that multitude, there is enough interest in Christ and his word that you're here in this place this morning, a place where if you've heard anything, you know the people take the Bible seriously. You didn't come here for a circus. You didn't come here to see somebody perform miracles and lay hands on the sick or raise the dead. I venture to say that there's not a person here, no matter how surface your acquaintance with this church and its ministry is or was until today, you came because in some way or another you heard that's a place where you're going to hear the Bible. And your interest may even rise to the place where what you hear will sink down in your mind enough that when you leave, you'll think about it and you'll go back over it and say, you know, that preacher didn't play around with the Bible. He didn't put anything into there. Every point he

42:52 made, I could see it with my own eyes. And so you will reflect now and then upon what you hear. And then in the midst of this vast group of people, there may be some like the Pharisees. You're here not because there's any real desire to know Christ and know his word, but you're here to see if you can find something that you can carp about, something that you can pick fault with, something that you can supposedly see that is inconsistent and so attempt to undermine the ministry. I'd be very surprised if there are not at least a few in that mentality. But you see, whatever the disposition is, in every place where the word is preached, you have these two groups, the vast spectrum of everything from the cynical and the unbelieving to the searching, the seeking, the interested. And then you have his very own. You have those whom the Lord Jesus, may I say it reverently, proudly identifies as his brothers, his sisters, and his mother. As he did that day in that house

43:59 when he pointed to the circle of those attending upon his ministry, stretched his hand over them and said, here are my brethren, here is my mother, here are my sisters, those who hear and do the word of God. Thank God I believe that there are not a few in this place. Whom the Lord Jesus gladly says of them, they are my very own. For them I came from heaven by way of Mary's womb, as we read in Luke's gospel last week. For them I was born in the agony and trauma of a real human birth. For them I took the smell of the stable. For them I took the reproach of men. For them I was willing to take the smell of the stable. For them I was willing to take the

44:51 unleash fury of my own father upon the cross. For them I went into the jaws of death and of hell. And for them, hallelujah, I came forth triumphant from the grave. For them I've gone back to the right hand of my father. For them I intercede. For them I send my spirit. And for them I shall come one day in power and glory to take them to myself so to ever be with me. Now, my friend, let me ask you, which group are you in? Two groups, the multitude, with a vast and varying spectrum of spiritual appetite and perspective and desire or lack of it. And his very own, his very own, bound to him in eternal cords of faith and love. Now, you see, it does no good.

45:52 Listen, it does no good that you say, well, I'm not over on that end of the spectrum with the Pharisees. I'm not here to carp and criticize. God knows that that's not my attitude. Furthermore, I'm not here expecting something miraculous. I'm not expecting the preacher to make the lights here suddenly switch or turn purple and do something stupendous to validate it. No, no, I'm here to listen to the word of God. My friend, that's good. That's commendable. But let me ask you, has your hearing led you to that frightening, horrible, self-disclosure of what you are as a sinner, under divine wrath and curse? Has that hearing led you to see that you stand in desperate need of all that Christ is and all that he's done for sinners? And then unless you flee your sin and throw yourself upon Christ for mercy, you go to the same hell as the carping Pharisees. Oh, yes, hell may be worse for them, yes. But frankly,

46:56 I don't find any consolation. And thinking of lesser or greater degrees of punishment in hell. Hell is hell. It's outer darkness. And weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth are weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. Oh, my friend, which group are you in? Which group are you in? There is no middle ground.

47:20 Jesus said, he that is not with me is against me. He that gathers not with me scatters. So our passage, by way of application, is a way of application of the gospel. And I'm going to read it to you now.

Application 2: The Operative Principle in Preaching – To Him Who Has, More Will Be Given

47:31 Revelation reveals a distinction which is always present when the word is preached. But then secondly, the passage illustrates a principle which is operative whenever the word is preached.

47:49 It reveals a principle that is operative whenever the word is preached. And what is the principle? We studied it a few weeks ago. Look at verse 25. To him that hath shall be given, and from him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he hath. To him who hath shall be given. Jesus teaches the vast multitude. But then later on, he's found with that inner circle of his very own.

48:20 And they who had spiritual sight and light and spiritual commitment to Christ, what happened? They received more. He expounded all things to them until he asked the question, have you understood all things? They said, yea, Lord. He expounded all things to them until he asked the Lord, we've received more from your hand. And then he went on to use that imagery. And he went on to say that someone who is brought into the kingdom, who's had some previous knowledge of the word of God, is like unto a scribe who brings out things new and old. To him that hath shall be given.

48:54 From him that hath not shall be taken away. As Luke says, that which he seems to have. And you see, that principle is continually operative under the preaching of the word. It's operative here this morning.

49:08 Just as surely as that distinction is here. Those who are his own, those who are part of the mixed multitude. So this principle is operative. Some of you came into this building this morning having a saving acquaintance with Christ.

49:26 Having a spiritual perception of his word. Having a hunger, not simply to learn some new wrinkles out of the gospel of Mark. But you had a hunger that in the preaching of the word, you would see your Savior and taste communion with him. And you know what's happened?

49:44 You came in here having, and bless God by his grace, you're leaving having more. Because to him who has, God has been giving. God has been giving. But the tragedy is that some of you came here having nothing.

50:00 Having nothing. Nothing spiritually. No relish for God. No appetite for Christ.

50:06 No real desire for felt communion with his Son and with his people. You're here. But you have not. And you know what happens?

50:15 When you leave, you'll have less than what you seemed to have when you came. Why? Because once again the great issues were brought to bear upon your conscience. No middle ground.

50:26 No neutral territory.

50:29 No DMZ. With him? Or against him? One of his very own?

50:36 One of the vast mixed multitude under wrath and condemnation. This is one of the agonies of being a preacher. To know that this goes on every time we preach. It's one of the few things that makes me want to run from the pulpit.

50:54 There aren't many that make me want to run to it.

50:58 It's the sense of duty and the constraint of stewardship that brings me to it. But when I must think of this, and more so when I must preach upon it, it's enough to make me run. To think that one's ministry calculated to give becomes the very means of God to take away.

51:19 It's a horrible thought.

Application 3: A Pattern for the Church's Ministry – Outer and Inner Circles

51:22 And the day of judgment will tally up all the arithmetic of that. But then thirdly, and on this note I want to close this morning, this passage demonstrates a pattern for the church in its own ministry. This passage demonstrates, demonstrates a pattern for the church in its own ministry. Last week I turned to the index of Spurgeon's sermons and I saw that Spurgeon had a sermon on this text.

51:51 And I said, well, usually I don't turn to Spurgeon until after I've prepared because his mind is so fertile and his ideas so captivating that I'm afraid I'd find it hard to think my own thoughts after I read Spurgeon on a passage. So I normally will turn to him after I've done my basic preparation. But knowing that this passage is a pattern for the church, knowing that this week was going to be unusually hectic, I said I'd better get the seeds sown and planted and germinating early in the week because things are going to be pressed on Saturday having the kind of schedule I had this past week. And Spurgeon has a beautiful sermon on this text.

52:25 And you know what he calls it? The title of the sermon is Teaching for the Outer and Inner Circles. And his whole thesis is this. As Jesus in this passage preached the word to the multitudes, and expounded that word in private to his own, so the church is given a framework for her task to the end of the ages.

52:51 Like her Lord, she should continually push back new frontiers to do what? To confront the multitudes. Confront them with what? With nothing but the word.

53:04 And oh, how Spurgeon thunders that out. One can feel the thunder just reading the pages. That the church is not to run a circus. The church is not to attract men by carnal means and methods.

53:17 She's to go out and confront men with the word. That's what he brought the multitudes. He brought the word to them. And Spurgeon goes on to exhort his people that is their task.

53:30 Not to expect the multitudes to come to them, but to bring the word to the multitudes. But then he says he had his teaching for the inner circle. Those are the multitudes. The multitudes who saw him for who he was.

53:44 And voluntarily by grace attached themselves to him. Then the Lord had the ministry to the inner circle. He disclosed the deepest secrets of his heart. He said, I call you no more servants, because a servant is not privy to his master's secrets.

54:02 I call you friends. Like a friend will walk with a friend and in a private place disclose the deepest secrets of his heart. So Jesus discloses his secrets to his friends. And Spurgeon goes on rightly to say this is the church's second great task.

54:20 To take those who become Jesus' own disciples and fulfill his mandate towards them. Teach them to observe whatever he commanded. See them built up and nourished upon a solid teaching, expository ministry in which they grow and develop. Into strong and stable Christians by doctrine that has been implanted in their hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit and by an ever widening understanding of their duty to be fulfilled in love to Christ.

54:55 And I thought again how kind in God's providence that as we are just getting acclimated to our life together in this new building that we should have a passage that underscores so clearly what our task is. Dear people, what is the task and mission of Trinity Church? Here it is. Here it is.

55:17 Here it is. Like our longitude. ...religious shows.

55:31 They can turn on their television and get a dozen of them today. ...guide shows.

55:44 And people fleecing people and getting their money for their so-called benevolent projects while they build their own dynasties in memories of themselves. What this community needs is the Word. And that's what this nation needs. The Word.

56:10 People, God has raised up this building and brought us into fellowship. For what purpose? To sit here and admire. And to feel comfort in our pews.

56:22 But that we as an army, shoulder to shoulder, might in the power of the Holy Ghost bring the Word to this generation. The forms in which we do it are manifold. The books, the tapes, the tracts, the witness, whatever other avenues God may open to us. The forms.

56:47 But the Son is one. It is the Word. And then, the second half of our great task is those who by the Word come to see who they are and see the loveliness of Jesus and become bound to Him in faith and love. We are to see them brought to maturity.

57:10 How? By expounding all things unto them. By saying that they need for their spiritual health the whole counsel of God. And by public and private instruction give ourselves to seeing people brought into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ through the teaching of the Word of the living God.

57:36 I say the passage demonstrates the pattern for the church and its ministry until the Lord Jesus returns again. Well, Mark gave us just a simple summary of our Lord's teaching in Upper Palestine at that time. But in that summary, surely there is a Word from God to our own hearts. May we receive it and walk in its light.

Prayer and Benediction

58:02 Let us pray. Oh, our Father, we never cease to marvel at the depths and the riches of Your Word. We thank You for that Word that we've been able to meditate upon this morning. And we pray that the Holy Spirit who gave it to us through the pen of Your servant Mark will write it upon our own hearts and that our response will be one of faith and obedience.

58:37 Oh, God, for those who are part of the mixed multitude whose consciences smote them when the description of Your very own was given and they had in honesty to say, I'm not one of them. Oh, Lord, graciously draw them. Even now may they see in Christ one perfectly suited to their need and may they embrace Him in repentance and faith and become His by grace. We pray for Your people that we would not be content with just the shell of truth, but, oh, that we may often be alone with our Savior, having Him by the Spirit and the Word open up the heart of the meaning of Scripture. Write these things upon the fleshy tables of our hearts and may the remainder of this day and its further ministries be part of that ongoing work of the Lord Jesus in this church, expounding all things to His people. Hear us and may Your blessing rest upon us as we leave this place. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

59:52 Amen.