And let us turn once more to
God's Word and we turn to the New Testament of the Gospel according
to St. Mark. In Mark chapter 4, taking
for our text the words that we have here in verses 11 and 12. Mark 4, verses 11 and 12. And he said unto them, unto you
it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God but unto
them that are without all these things are done in parables that
seeing they may see and not perceive and hearing they may hear and
not understand lest at any time they should be converted and
their sins should be forgiven them in mark 4 verses 11 and
12 and the subject that we have here is that of the mystery of
the kingdom of gods the mystery of the kingdom of gods he said
unto them unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom
of gods unto them that are without all these things are done in
parables, that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing
they may hear and not understand, that at any time they should
be converted, and their sin should be forgiven them. The Lord then speaks of parables,
and in particular here, it is the parable of the sower, That's
what he'd spoken of in the previous verses. We're told there at verse
10, when he was alone, they were about him with the 12, asked
him of the parable. And then verse 13, he said unto
them, know ye not this parable? How then will ye know all parables? We know that this way was Christ's
way of preaching and teaching. He made great use of parables. In fact, later in the chapter,
verse 33, with many such parables, spake the word unto them as they
were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he
not unto them. And when they were alone, he
expounded all things to his disciples. Throughout the Gospels, time
and again, we have mention of parables. And I suppose one of
the great chapters that contains a good number of parables is
Matthew chapter 13. And it's interesting how, as
the Lord speaks, there's various parables in that portion of Holy
Scripture time. And again, he says, the kingdom
of heaven is like. The kingdom of heaven is like. Kingdom of Heaven is like and
then he goes on to speak of the different parables. But what
are these parables? Many say that parables are earthly
stories illustrating heavenly truths. But is that really the
case? I would say that it is Far from
that, it's not just the Lord Jesus using earthly stories to
show something of the great truths of heaven, but rather the parables
are associated with dark sayings. We have it in that psalm that
we read, Psalm 78, verse two, I will open my mouth in a parable,
I will utter dark sayings of all. And then again, in Psalm
49-4, the Psalmist says, I will incline mine ear to a parable,
I will open my dark sayings upon the heart. And in those parallel
statements that are so familiar to us in the Book of Psalms,
we see quite clearly that the parable is equivalent to a dark
saying. And so what is the Lord doing
by the use of parables? He's not illustrating heavenly
truths to men and women by the use of these earthly stories,
but he is concealing so much from the multitudes. They would hear these things,
but they were unable to understand these things. And the Lord has
to explain these truths to his own disciples, but the majority,
the majority of those who were without As he says here at the
end of verse 11, unto them that are without, all these things
are done in parables. And that is the multitude, the
Jewish people and their leaders. He came unto his own. and his
own received him not. And here we see how it was a
great multitude that had gathered together to hear the Lord Jesus. In the opening verses of the
chapter he began again to teach by the seaside and there was
gathered unto him a great multitude so that he entered into a ship
and sat in the sea and the whole multitude was by the sea on the
land and he taught them many things by parables. and said
unto them in his doctrine, hearken. And so it begins the parable
of the sower and his seed. The multitude are hearing it,
but are the multitude understanding? No, Christ's ministry is so clearly
a ministry that is discriminating and separating. What does he
say here at verse 12? That seeing they may see and
not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand.
that at any time they should be converted and their sins should
be forgiven them. Here is the point and the purpose,
the intent of the parable then, that these things might be hidden.
And it reminds us of the ministry of the prophet Isaiah. Remember,
his call was to that very little remnant that was left in the
midst of Israel, that true spiritual Israel. He is told there in chapter
6 of his book, in verse 9, Go and tell these people, Hear ye
indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of these people
fat, make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert, and be healed. Then said I, Lord,
how long? The Lord makes it plain that
his ministry is to that remnant, in it shall be a tenth, and it
shall return. That is that very little remnant,
and it's the same in the ministry here of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, this morning I want us, with
the Lord's help, to consider what we have here in these two
verses. In Mark chapter 4, verse 11,
he said unto them, unto you, it is given to know the mystery
of the kingdom of God. but unto them that are without.
All these things are done in parables, that seeing they may
see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand,
lest at any time they should be converted, and their sin should
be forgiven them." Considering then the content of the parables,
the subject matter of the parables, what does the Lord speak of?
He speaks of the parables in terms of the mystery of the kingdom
of God. The mystery of the kingdom of
God. What is this mystery? Well, we're not to think here
in terms of some secret initiation rites that Christ's disciples
must go through. We know that movements like the
Masonic movement, they have their initiation rites and they're
top secret. They don't like any who are not
masons to know what they have to do in order to become members
of that so-called brotherhood. These mysteries are not those
sorts of strange rites, nor are the mysteries absurd and unintelligible
teachings. It's the mystery of the kingdom.
the Kingdom of God. And the Kingdom of God is not
nonsense. Paul says the Kingdom of God
is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Why then is this particular word
used? As the Lord speaks to his disciples,
unto you it is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of
God. It's a mystery because it is
not of this world. The kingdom of the Lord Jesus
Christ is a spiritual kingdom. Does he not say at his trial,
that mockery of a trial before Pontius Pilate, my kingdom is
not of this world? If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my disciples fight? No, his kingdom is a spiritual
kingdom. In fact, This Kingdom of God
is nothing less than the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. As
we see in the opening chapter of this Gospel of Mark, after
the ministry of the Baptist, after John has fulfilled his
ministry as the forerunner of Christ, we read in chapter 1
verse 14, after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into
Galilee preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God. He comes
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And as that was the subject
matter of the ministry of the Lord himself, so it is also that
that his apostles were to preach. When Paul is writing to those
Ephesians at the end of that epistle, remember how he desires
their prayers. He asks that they pray for him,
that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth
boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Paul, the mystery
of the gospel is the same as the mystery of the kingdom of
God. And in fact, At the end of Colossians,
he also asks for the prayers of that particular church. And
he wants them to pray for him with regards to his preaching,
and he speaks there not of the mystery of the gospel, but of
the mystery of Christ. The gospel is the gospel of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It centers there in Christ. Or remember the words again of
the Apostle Paul there in 1 Timothy 3.16, without controversy, he
says, grace is the mystery of godliness. The mystery of godliness,
the mystery of real religion. And what does he say after that?
He speaks about God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the
spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, received up into glory. That mystery of Godliness
then is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is Christ in his person. It is the Lord Jesus Christ in
his work. And when we think about Christ,
is it not to us a great mystery? The first, the greatest of all
mysteries is God himself, that God is one and God is three,
but the second mystery is like unto that. It is God manifest
in the flesh, it's the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. When
the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were
under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons. Well, there we're told concerning
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the son of God.
God sends forth his son, his only begotten son. And he is
made of a woman with regards to his human nature. He is the
seed of the woman. He receives his human nature
from the Virgin Mary. He has no human father. That's
the mystery. That holy thing that was conceived
by the Holy Ghost in the Virgin's womb, that human nature, that
body and soul, in that great mystery of godliness was joined
under the person of the Eternal Son of God. What a mystery is
this! What a mystery! What a wonder is the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ in all that he does. Here upon earth
he is God and he is man. And we're not to separate those
two natures. The two natures are distinct
and yet those two natures are in one person. That is the mystery
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, but then also the mystery
of his work. Why was God incarnate to redeem? Or to redeem them that were under
the law, to pay that great price of the the sinner's ransom, to
honor and to magnify the Lord of God. And he does it by the
life that he lives, that life of perfect obedience, holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners. And then that man who was so
holy and so righteous, he must die and he must die as a substitute. He bears in his own person all
that punishment that was due to his people. The mystery of
his work, of his dying. How could
such a man die? For there was no cause of death
in him, the soul that sinnetheth shall die. But there was nothing
of sin in him. Why? He dies as a substitute. He takes to himself all the sins
of his people. This is the mystery. What a blessing
If these words belong to us, unto you it is given to know
the mystery of the Kingdom of God. It centers in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But then also, of course, we
have in Christ that full and final revelation of God. We see
the truth of the great doctrine of the Trinity, the mystery of
God and of the Father. and of Christ, the three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. The great mystery then of the
doctrine of God himself, the doctrine of the Trinity, the
mystery of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is that mystery that is
really the content of the parables that the Lord is telling. All
centers in Christ. But when we think of this gospel,
is it not all a matter of the sovereignty of the grace of God
that we see unfolded in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? We
know that there is in the purpose of God of salvation there is
an eternal union between Christ and his people, Christ and his
church. You go to a portion like Ephesians chapter 5 where Paul
is speaking very practically of the marriage union and the
relationship between a man and his wife and the relative duties
that belong to each, to the man and to the wife. But what does
Paul say after speaking in that very practical fashion? He says,
this is a great mystery. This is a great mystery. But
I speak concerning Christ and his church. Oh, Christ is the
bridegroom. The church is his bride. there is that eternal union between
Christ and his people. They were all given to him by
God in the eternal covenant, given before the foundation of
the world. And that's what we see here,
you see. Really, what we have indicated here is the sovereignty
of God in the Gospel. The Lord is speaking to his disciples. They've asked that question in
verse 10 concerning the parable. And he says, unto you it is given,
unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of
God. Why it is given unto them? It's because they are those who
were given to him in that eternal covenant. A man can receive nothing
except it be given him from heaven, says John the Baptist. And the
Lord Jesus tells us, it is written in the prophets, they shall be
all taught of God. Every man therefore that has
heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me. There is an eternal
union in that covenant in which the bride, the church, was given
to Christ, but that eternal union must in time be experienced. It must become an experimental
union. There must be a great work that
is accomplished in the soul of those who are saved. The Lord
says to his disciples, behold, the kingdom of God is within
you. And what is that kingdom of God that comes within, that
dwells in the heart of the sinner? It's that new nature, that divine
nature. The sinner must be born again.
He must be born from above. And it is life eternal then to
know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast
sent. Well, what is this experience
here that must come into the soul of those who are saved?
It is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Look at the language
of Paul as he speaks there in the opening chapter of his epistle
to the Colossians. Colossians 1, verses 26 and 27,
he says, which hath been heard from ages
and from generations, but is now made manifest to his saints,
to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope
of glory. Christ in you, that is the divine
nature. That is that that is born from
above in the great work of regeneration. But there, in that portion in
Colossians, we have indicated that there is another mystery
revealed in the Gospel and it concerns the calling of the Gentiles. That is really the content of
what the Apostle has to say in Ephesians chapter 3, remember.
He was called to be the Apostle to the Gentiles, was Paul. What
does he say, Ephesians 3, verse 3? By revelation, he says, God
made known unto me the mystery. Verse 5, which in other ages
was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed
unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles
should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers
of his promise in Christ by the gospel. All this salvation, this
Messiah, He has come not simply to save those of Israel, He has
come to call sinners of the Gentiles. And this is really the subject
matter that is constantly being dealt with in the parables, such
a significant part of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says then to His disciples, unto you it is given to know the mystery
of the kingdom of God. And ought to be those who by
the Spirit of God are taught these great things, these great
truths, these great mysteries, all of them, as I said, centering
in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we
beheld his glory, says John, the glorious of the only begotten
of the Father. full of grace and truth, to know
that grace and truth that comes with the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. But having said something with
regards to the content, the subject matter of this parabolic teaching,
I want to say something in the second place concerning the point
and the purpose of the parables. He says at the end of verse 11,
unto them that are without all these things are done in parables. Remember what we said about parables
from the Psalms, Psalm 49, Psalm 78? The parables are equivalent
to dark sayings. Well does the darkness of the
parables in some way mitigate the guilt of those who have no
understanding. In other words, if Christ was
to speak more plainly to them, more clearly, more openly, would
that aggravate their guilts? Is he speaking in a dark way
in order, as it were, to alleviate any sense of guilt that they
might have? Well, that is certainly not the
case. In fact, The very opposite is true from what we see in verse
12. The parables really compound
the guilt of those who don't understand or don't believe.
All these things are done in parables that, in order that,
seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and
not understand, lest at any time they should be converted and
their sins should be forgiven them well notice the the emphatic
language that the lord is using here in verse twelve he says
seeing they say and hearing they hear and uh... we think well i did immediately
thought here of those words that the lord speaks to the pharisees
at the end of John chapter 9 after the Lord had performed that remarkable
miracle, the miracle of the healing of the man born blind. Now the
Jews had cast him out of the synagogue, they'd excommunicated
him because he'd confessed Christ. And then there at the end of
that ninth chapter, Jesus said, speaking to these Pharisees,
for judgment am I coming to this world. that they which see not
might see, and that they which see might be made blind. And
some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and
said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were
blind, ye should have no sin. But now ye say, We see, therefore
your sin remaineth. All they thought they saw, they
thought they understood, they knew not that they were blind.
and ignorant. And what is the Lord doing here
then in the parables? He wants them to understand that
there are those who see and hear and yet they have no understanding.
All these things are done in such a fashion that they're left
altogether without any excuse. That's the significance. of the
words that the Lord is speaking, seeing they may see, and hearing
they may hear, but they don't perceive, nor do they understand. Now, it's interesting to observe
exactly what the Lord says at the end of the 11th verse. He
speaks of these things that are done in parables. He doesn't say those things that
are spoken in parables. He has spoken in the course of
his ministry, the course of his teaching, he has been speaking
these things. But he says, of those who are without, these
things are done in parables. In other words, they are things
that are happening before their eyes. They would see, probably
daily, In the season of sowing, they'd see the sower as he went
out sowing his seed. In other parables, the Lord speaks
of a father and his son, the prodigal son. They would be familiar
of the relationship between fathers and sons. He also speaks of masters
and servants, of kings and subjects. All these things are done in
parables. What is the Lord saying? Well,
these earthly events can be said to be images of heavenly and
spiritual truths. Now that's what we have back
in the Psalm that we read. Remember what the Lord said,
or what the Psalmist says there at the beginning of the Psalm,
I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of
old. And what does the Psalmist go
on to do? Well, we read a good part of the Psalm, and he clearly
is speaking there of God's dealings in providence with the children
of Israel when he brought them out from Egypt and through the
wilderness. In these ordinary events, there
are certain spiritual truths really being set forth. We have
it again. in the 107th Psalm. The 107th
Psalm speaks of God's providences in various circumstances and
situations of life. He speaks of those who are walking
in a certain way. He speaks of the mariner who
goes and does business in deep water. and he speaks of God's
overruling providences in all these circumstances of life.
But when we come to the end of the 107th Psalm, he says, who
so is wise will observe these things and they shall understand
the loving kindness of the Lord. There's something to be understood,
the spiritual lessons to be gained from all those things that take
place around us. But, but men do not see these
things they don't see these things, these things are done in parables
that seeing they may see and not perceive and hearing they
may hear and not understand that at any time they should be converted
and their sin should be forgiven them for this is the condemnation
that light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather
than light, men love darkness men of the ignorance of their
sins. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God. Their foolishness to him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. What is the natural
mind? Oh, you know what Paul says there in Romans 8, 7? It
is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law
of God. Neither, indeed, can it. No solemn it is, because
here we're reminded of that discriminating nature of the ministry of the
Lord Jesus Christ. How he makes a difference and
a distinction, a separation. As I've said many a time, we
see it there in John's Gospel, a division because of him, a
division because of his saying. And again here, in the parable,
He says to his disciples, unto you it is given to know the mystery
of the kingdom of God. But unto them that are without,
these things are done in parables, that seeing they may see and
not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand,
lest at any time they should be converted and their sins should
be forgiven them. Romans 11.7, the election of
David. and the rest were blinded. Constantly it is the outworking
of God's sovereign decree. All the gospel is plainly set
before us. Plainly set before us. That's
what he's saying here in the words of our text this morning.
Again, look at the language of Paul when he writes there in
the 10th chapter of his epistle to the Romans. Romans chapter
10 at verse 6. The righteousness which is of
faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above,
but who shall descend into the deep. That is to bring up Christ
again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is
neither, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word
of faith which we preach. Oh, friends, how close the Gospel
comes. How close the Gospel comes. And
the Gospel comes before us, of course, when we come to the word
of truth, even today. When the Apostle writes to the
Galatians, he reminds them, before whose eyes Jesus Christ had been
evidently set forth, crucified among them. They were not there,
they were not eyewitnesses of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ, but they heard these things. Before whose eyes Jesus
Christ had been evidently set forth. They heard. They were
those who saw with their natural sight. But in a sense, seeing
and hearing is not sufficient. There is something more that
is necessary. And we have it, of course, in
the first part of this 11th verse. The Lord says to his disciples
unto you, It is given. Oh, it is all given, it is all
given. How is it given? How is the understanding
mind the believing heart, the obedient will, how is it given?
It can only be given by the Holy Ghost. And we need that blessed
ministry of the Spirit to open our eyes, to unstop our ears,
to soften our hard hearts, to move our stubborn wills, Guy, in the language of the Apostle
1 Corinthians 2.10, God hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things
of God. For what man knoweth the things
of man, sayeth the Spirit of man which is in him. Even some,
the things of God, knoweth no man. but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
Oh, it's a free gospel. It's a free grace gospel. The
things that are freely given to us of God. He hath not because he hath not,
says James, The Lord Jesus Christ himself tells us what we're to
do. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Oh, let us ever be asking
and begging that we might know more and more of that ministry
of the Spirit, to know Him. God's the Holy Ghost. ministering
to us the things of Christ, making the things of Christ real to
us, opening our eyes and our hearts to all these great mysteries
of the gospel of the grace of God. May the Lord then be pleased
to come and to bless us today with that ministry of God the
Holy Ghost himself as he comes. as God comes by His Spirit and
in His Word. May the Lord bless these things
to us.