4:21-23 Hidden And Revealed
We often believe that what we've said in secret will stay secret. It won't. We think that what we've done in private will never be revealed. It will. Moses said in Numbers 32,
Num. 32:23 "...Be sure your sin will find you out."
Isaiah spoke,
Isa. 29:15 Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"
And the psalmist wrote:
Ps. 90:8 Thou hast placed our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy presence.
The Lord is all-knowing and all-seeing. You are never alone with your thoughts. There is no deed you do that the Lord does not see. Our hypocrisy might fool men, but it doesn't fool God. The Lord says,
Jer. 17:10 "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds.
4:24-25 Take Care What You Listen To
We know that the Bible tells us,
Rom. 10:17 ...Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
If faith comes from hearing the word of Christ, then it stands to reason that a lack of faith can come by hearing something opposed to Christ.
John wrote in his first epistle,
1John 4:5-6 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
If you're listening to the world's advice, the world's music, the world's philosophies, then you're being worldly. If it was no big deal, then Jesus wouldn't have warned us,
Mark 4:24 ..."Take care what you listen to..."
Your Standard Of Measure
This is an interesting thing regarding the kingdom of God - you're given a certain amount, and if you multiply it, more is given to you. If you do nothing with it, the little that you had gets taken away.
Check out the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 when you get a chance.
4:26-29 Growing Kingdom Crops
When we were in elementary school, we used to get a styrofoam cup 3/4 full of dirt. We'd plant a seed in it and wait for it to grow. We'd get anxious. Funny how we do the same thing spiritually: we expect rapid growth from new Christians, when the seed has just been planted the night before.
But it didn't happen overnight, it took a long time. Plants grow gradually and progressively. The bummer thing about it was that my plants always seemed to take longer than everybody else's, too. No two people grow at the same rate. Some end up in ministry after five years. For others, it's all they can do to make it to church every week after five years. Fortunately, God is patient with us.
Eventually, when the fruit is grown in our lives, it is harvested for use in the kingdom of God.
4:30-32 The Mustard Seed
The mustard seed, when planted, grows to be a yellow-flowered bush about 3 1/2 feet tall. "A grain of mustard seed never develops into a great tree, unless it becomes abnormal." (Morgan) But this seed grows up to be a mutated monstrosity, much larger than it was ever supposed to be. It actually becomes a tree that is large enough for the "birds of the air" to nest in its branches.
Remember, because Jesus told us to interpret the rest of the parables using the explanation of the parable of the soils, we know that the birds represented the evil one, satan and his messengers.
Yes, in the kingdom of God, which is much larger than it should be, the evil one has emissaries setting up shop in the branches. Never forget that the church's greatest threat is not from the outside, but from the inside. Paul warned the Ephesian elders,
Acts 20:29-30 "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them."
Think it not strange at all when these things happen in the church. The kingdom of God has become a mutated monstrosity, having grown much larger than it ever was supposed to. Churches and ministries are filled with not only the unsaved, but with the unholy messengers of satan as well.
4:33-34 Understanding The Word
There is an understanding of the word of God that can come only as a result of being a disciple of Christ. 1Corinthians 2 tells us,
1Cor. 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised
Without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, there are truths of the word of God which are totally incomprehensible to an unsaved person. This is one reason why Jesus chose to teach in parables.
4:35-41 Rebuking The Storm
At least four of these disciples grew up fishing on this sea. They were familiar with storms, and knew how to deal with them. But this was an abnormally massive and destructive one. They thought they were going to die. Once Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves, He rebukes them for their lack of faith. Does that sound unreasonable to you? After all, it was a horrible, life-threatening situation. But they didn't hold on to what Jesus had said:
Mark 4:35 ...He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."
We need to simply hold onto the word of God, walking by faith and not by sight.
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