Mark chapter 4, we'll read verses
1 and 2, and we'll read verses 10 and 12, and we'll come back
to the intervening verses on another occasion. So just a couple
of passages out of the earlier part of this chapter. Mark chapter four, verse one.
And he began again to teach by the sea. This is the Lord Jesus
Christ. 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 then, verse 10. 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. Amen. May God bless to us this reading
from his word. Perhaps it is rather unusual
for us to think about how busy the Lord Jesus Christ was. Have you ever paused and reflected
how busy Jesus was in his daily activities. We often feel that
our lives are very stressful and perhaps we look back fondly,
we reminisce on slower days and simpler times when life wasn't
so frantic or so hectic. But be that as it may, our Saviour
always seems to have been busy. And we're told that He was about
His Father's business. This is what motivated the Lord. He was about the business of
the message that His Father had given to Him. And when we compare
this passage that we have before us today in Mark with a parallel
passage in Matthew, there are sections in Matthew, Mark and
Luke which are common to all three. and we call them the Synoptic
Gospels because there's much which parallels and complements
each other in the passages of those Gospels. And when we read
the parallel passage in Matthew of the verses that we've read
today in Mark, we discover that this was a very busy day for
the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew tells us that the Lord
left a house, probably it was in Capernaum, which is where
the Lord ministered. It was a little seaside town
on the coast of Galilee. And there the Lord had been preaching
and there he had been healing. So he left that house where he'd
been preaching and healing and we're told he went to the sea
and this is what we pick up in the opening verse of Mark chapter
4. This was the same day that he
had earlier in the day cast a devil out from a man who was blind
and dumb. He had also contended with the
scribes and the Pharisees, and he ably answered them when they
blasphemed and credited the devil with the miracle that the Lord
Jesus Christ had performed. He had also prophesied his own
death and resurrection by making reference in his teaching to
the sign of Jonas being three days in the whale's belly. And
this was the same day that his mother and his brethren had come
to seek him out, perhaps from the town of Nazareth, some miles
away if he was indeed in Capernaum, in order to speak to him and
perhaps to contend with him because of all the things that were happening.
Little wonder then that we often read of the Lord Jesus Christ
being weary and tired. And if I'm right in calculating
that this was all done on the same day, then this could only
have been in the morning. Because what we now read at the
beginning of Mark chapter four and the four parables that follow,
all also happen on the same day. So we should not be surprised
when we discover at the end of this chapter, in verse 37, that
the Lord, in this little boat, as he went across the sea, the
Sea of Galilee, he slept through a violent storm that very night,
during which the waves beat into the ship. Brothers and sisters,
I don't doubt that our lives are very fraught and very pressurised,
but let us not think that this is uncommon or this is unique
to us. Let us not forget that our Saviour,
the Lord Jesus Christ, was just like us in every way, yet without
sin. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 says,
We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling
of our infirmities. So you who are fraught and frazzled,
you who are running hither and thither, you who are so full
in your days with activity, the Lord Jesus Christ knows exactly
what your life was like, because that's what His life was like.
And He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He knows what it is to be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. We can take it to the Lord Jesus
Christ. So this is the day that we're
talking about in chapter four, verse one. This is the day where
we begin to see, and he began again to teach by the seaside,
and there was gathered unto him a great multitude. So the Lord is about his Father's
business. And here we see something which
is noticeable, I think. Jesus employed an interesting
means and an intriguing method to bring his message to this
great multitude. He preached from a ship and he
preached in parables. Now, this ship was functional. And I'm actually going to make
a point about this ship today, which I think is interesting
in our present circumstances. This ship was functional. It
was the Lord's pulpit from which he safely and effectively held
the attention of his audience. It was practical and it was ingenious. He used that little ship as a
pulpit because the needs of the moment required it. How's this
for an application? Is church a bit different for
you these days? Is church different from how
it used to be? Are we having to make alterations? Are we having to be imaginative?
Are we having to be ingenious about the way in which we deal
with the circumstances we find ourselves in? Is not this the
Lord showing us that there is a place for preaching out of
a boat and using a little ship as a pulpit, or using that which
is given to us and is at our disposal to practically preach
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and be about the Father's
business. These people attended the synagogue
to fulfil their religious obligations. but they heard the gospel at
the seaside from a man in a boat. Now perhaps the more significant
emphasis that we should be having today is not upon the means of
delivery but upon the content of the message and the fact that
the Lord Jesus Christ taught in parables. And so this is what
we shall think upon today for a little while. A parable is
essentially a comparison. It is taking two things and setting
them beside each other and comparing those two things. In the context
of the Lord's teaching, it's a comparison of common earthly
things with divine heavenly things. in such a way as it teaches and
explains gospel truth by simple and familiar pictures. And I'm sure you've heard the
definition, it's not uncommon, an earthly story with a heavenly
meaning. And it's a very suitable little
definition to remember. A parable is an earthly story
with a heavenly meaning. But what I want us to notice
today, and this is my first point of three that I have to bring
to you, what I want us to notice is that the gospel writers are
eminently clear upon the fact that these stories, these parables
that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke were vehicles for his doctrine. Right? There's no doubt about
that. This is Christ's doctrine because that's what the gospel
writers tell us in verse two of this fourth chapter. And he
taught them many things by parables and said unto them in his doctrine. So this is doctrine that we have
before us in these parables. And we mustn't forget that. It's
important. Christ's doctrine is what he
received from his father. Christ's doctrine is the message
that the father gave him to declare in his ministry. You remember
that we speak about the various roles and responsibilities or
offices that the Lord Jesus Christ took and we speak about him as
prophet, priest and king. This is his prophetic office. He had a message to bring. He
had a doctrine to preach and his doctrine was contained in
these parables that he delivered. And I stress that because I want
us not to be afraid of doctrine. Sometimes when we speak about
doctrine, it becomes so highbrow, so convoluted, so deep and profound
that we can't actually understand what's going on. But the Lord
taught doctrine in the parables. And could these be more simple? Could these be simpler accounts
that were being presented to the men and women of his day?
But it contained the doctrine. And we've not to be afraid of
doctrine, or let's call it gospel teaching because it's the same
message. It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. His doctrine was his gospel.
And we are not to be averse to the word doctrine. These commonplace
stories were a device to convey God's truth. So let me be clear,
knowledge of doctrine is essential to salvation. Knowing what Jesus
was saying here is essential. In John chapter 8, verse 32,
we read these words, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free. That is the knowledge, that is
the gospel, that is the doctrine of Christ that John is speaking
about there. Ye shall know the truth. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ's own words, and the truth shall make you
free. And then again in John chapter 17, verse 3, And this
is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. that they might know thee. The doctrine of Christ was the
revelation of God. And that knowledge is essential
to salvation. So don't be put off by the word
doctrine or gospel teaching. It is essential that we come
to terms with these truths and this teaching. You know, going
to church for some people has become no more than entertainment. Nice music, nice people, a warm
and a friendly environment, nothing too challenging. And we ask them
what they think of the Lord Jesus Christ and they reply, oh, we
don't really do doctrine in our church. No. Well then you don't know the
truth and you don't know liberty from your sins and you don't
know salvation and you don't know God and you don't know Christ
and you don't know the gospel. Whatever else you know at your
church, if you don't really do doctrine, you don't know what
is necessary for salvation. It might make one wonder What
you do know, if you don't do doctrine, what do you do? Let me tell you something, brothers
and sisters. Everything positive, everything
comforting, everything helpful in your Christian life comes
from your knowledge of doctrine. everything. Don't tell me we
don't need doctrine, we just believe Jesus. If you say that,
I can safely say you don't know what you're talking about and
you're still in your sins. If you lose a loved one, if you
get cancer, If you get fired from your work, if your house
burns down, whatever it is that happens to you in life, whatever
it is that happens to your family, whatever it is that happens to
your friends, whatever it is that goes on in your church,
whatever it is that happens to the circumstances of your life,
how are you going to deal with those problems if you don't know
God and you don't know Christ? It is only your knowledge of
God in Christ that will see you through your trials. It is only
your knowledge of the gospel that gives meaning to these things
and sense to this world and the truth in your heart that will
comfort your soul in the midst of your problems. And it's not me saying that.
If it was just me saying it, you might think to yourself,
well, he's only lining his own nest and you could ignore me. Find something better to do on
a Sunday. But I've been sent to tell you
this. And that leads me on to the second
point. Mark chapter four, verse 10,
we read these words. And when he was alone, they that
were about him with the 12 asked of him the parable. You almost think that Mark has
a little bit of a sense of humour here. Do you see how he describes
the Lord? He says, when he was alone, They
that were about him with the twelve asked him the parable."
So, okay, I understand what it means here. The multitude, the
great multitude that had stood by the side of the water when
Christ was preaching from the boat, they had been dismissed,
they had been sent home. Maybe it was getting dark, maybe
it was the end of the day, it was evening time or meal time
or whatever it was, they had been dismissed and Jesus was
alone. But with whom was he alone? With the 12 and those that were
around about him. So it was still a large number
of people. So Jesus being alone was still
in a crowd. This is why we say the Lord Jesus
Christ was always busy, because even now his work is not finished
for the day. All of the things that have transpired
this day, still he is being implored to explain these things to this
gathering of people that are around about him, at least 12
plus. Maybe Jesus was still in the
boat, maybe he had gone to some private place, maybe he had gone
back into the home that he'd come from earlier that day according
to Matthew. But their question was, what
was this parable? We missed it out today, we'll
go back to it next week, God willing. What is the heading
meaning of this parable? What is the full interpretation
of what you said? Now, actually, Matthew says that
they first asked why. And then they asked, what? So
they wanted to know why Jesus had used the parable, and then
they wanted to know what it meant. And it's Matthew chapter 13,
verse 10. It says, why speakest thou unto
them in parables? He answered and said unto them,
because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but unto them it is not given. And I want you
to notice that. I want to draw your attention
to it. Do you see what the Lord says there? Because that is the
key to understanding his doctrine. It's the key to understanding
the gospel. Now we can wriggle and we can
squirm and we can try and explain away. the implications of what
the Lord Jesus Christ says here in answer to this question of
why do you speak in parables? But these words stand firm in
the testimony of God in the Holy Scriptures and in the words of
Jesus Christ himself. Hear them again. It is given
unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but
to them it is not given. It is given unto you to know
the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven but unto them it is
not given. Sovereign God gives and sovereign
God withholds. He gives to one to know the mysteries
of the kingdom of heaven. He gives to one to know the gospel,
and he withholds it from another. The mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven is the gospel. That's what that phrase means.
Now, you might say, wait a minute, wait a minute. The gospel isn't
a mystery. The gospel's a revelation. It's
perfectly straightforward to understand. It's perfectly easy
to believe or not believe. Well, I say to you, your gospel
may be, but not the true gospel. Not the gospel of free, sovereign
grace. Indeed, the apostles in their
writings, in their epistles, repeatedly call the doctrines
of grace a mystery, hidden to all, hidden to everyone but those
to whom it is given to believe. That is, those who are given
eyes to see and ears to hear. There is a gospel, so-called,
that is easy to believe. That's true. It is an Arminian
gospel, it is a freewill gospel, and indeed, that gospel is called
easy-believism because that is the essence of its nature. It's designed for natural man. It serves a self-righteous fantasy
of man's own importance, man's own power, and man's own ability. The freewill gospel that pervades
so much of our society and our churches and our so-called preaching
today is an easy-believism. It's a cut-down, diluted gospel. It's easy to believe because
it's natural religion. It's carnal notions. It's a false view of sin in an
individual's life. And from that flows a false view
of everything else. And that's precisely what the
Lord Jesus Christ says here in this passage in Mark chapter
four. Listen to the words of the Savior again. We read them,
we'll read them again. He said unto them, verse 11,
Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of
God, the gospel. 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. Lord Jesus Christ was quoting
there a prophetic passage from the book of Isaiah. And interestingly,
it is one of the most quoted Old Testament passages in the
whole of the New Testament. And yet, in today's modern gospel,
so-called, the free will gospel of the Arminian, it is implicitly
and explicitly denied. They will have none of it. They
will have none of sovereign grace. They will have none of the fact
that it is given to some to believe and it is withheld from others. Now from the Lord's words, we
may deduce that the ability to understand the gospel must be
given. It has to be given. We won't
understand it in our natural, unenlightened state. The ability to understand the
gospel must be given. We must be given spiritual wisdom
before we can understand the gospel. That's what the Lord
is saying here. And also we may deduce that it's
not given to everyone. It is not given to those who
are without, that is, who are without the covenant, who are
without the purpose of God in salvation, who are outside of
those things which God has purposed to do for those that are in the
covenant of his grace and peace and mercy. So when the Lord Jesus
Christ took to that boat and started preaching in parables,
they, the multitude, to whom he preached, to whom he spoke
in parables. They were content with the story. They were content with the, what's
called similitudes, the likenesses that they were being given. But
they had no spiritual hunger for the true religion that these
things pointed to. They had no spiritual thirst
for grace. They had not spiritual eyes or
ears to know any better than that they were deluded and they
were blind. And that leads me on to the third
point that we have today. What are these mysteries that
the Lord said, to you it is given and to those who are without,
they are withheld? What are these mysteries? Well,
these are the deep, profound truths of the gospel of God's
grace. They are hidden to nature. Now, we know from Romans that
there is much that can be discerned, even about God and the existence
of God, from those things that are created around about us.
There's much that may be deduced even by a natural man to say,
there must be something bigger, there must be something more
to this world than just me and the life that I live, because
there's so much here which speaks of glory and majesty and design
and pattern and purpose. And we carry the image of God
in it, fallen as it is. We carry the image of God in
us. But the gospel must be revealed. It requires special revelation. What are these mysteries then
that require the mysteries of the kingdom of God, the mysteries
that require special revelation? Well, there's many, many of them.
Let me just start with this. The Trinity is a mystery. God
the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. It had to be
revealed. We could never have deduced that
humanly speaking. The Trinity is a mystery. The
very first question about who is God, the most basic element
of faith and religion, is a hidden mystery that defies human explanation. Our God is transcendent, which
means that He cannot be understood. He is above and beyond our comprehension. He's above and beyond time. He
doesn't dwell in time. He doesn't dwell in space. He
is beyond everything that is tangible and physical and real
and essential around about us. And yet, He is imminent. He is close by us. He is omnipresent. He is everywhere. He is omniscient
and knows all things. He is omnipotent. There is nothing
beyond his power. The all-knowing, the all-seeing,
the all-powerful God. And yet we cannot know a thing
about him except he reveals it to us. It's a mystery apart from
what he teaches. And the natural man cannot grasp
these things. The incarnation of the Lord Jesus
Christ is a mystery. Indeed, it is called the mystery
of godliness. That Christ should have a human
nature and a divine nature, and that these two natures combined
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, thereby enabling him
to be the God-man. The everlasting covenant of grace
is a mystery. Election is a mystery. Predestination,
a mystery. Imputed righteousness is a mystery. You start to say, this is doctrine,
this is doctrine. This is gospel. This is what
it is to know the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not
to be afraid of doctrine because this is the knowledge of God
by which sinners are saved. This leads us to the completeness
of salvation by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the
cross. The knowledge of the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross is essential for our salvation. That mystery as to how that all
works has got to be revealed to us. And it is a complete work. It is the satisfaction of God's
justice by His sacrifice. It is free justification by divine
righteousness. It's complete cleansing from
sin and pardon by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is
reconciliation with God and adoption into his family. It is redemption
by atonement. It's the resurrection of the
dead. Gospel mysteries revealed through
the teaching and the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and
which we must know and come to terms with and understand if
they are to be meaningful to us in our spiritual lives. These great truths are above
natural understanding. And even where they are accepted
theoretically, by preachers who've done their
theological training and been to their Bible colleges or whatever
it is, they are so thoroughly butchered in their preaching
as to bear little resemblance to biblical Christianity. And of course, that's how heresy
grows. And that's how the gospel of free sovereign grace is diluted
and compromised and ultimately denied. And free willers, they
speak about justification, but they don't mean what you and
I mean when we talk about justification. They talk about imputed righteousness,
but they leave the believer in legal bondage. They talk about
the power of God's love and Christ's blood, and then they immediately
render both of these things powerless by insisting that man's input
is necessary to make them efficacious. And so true gospel doctrine is
not believed, it's not received, it's not valued by parable hearers. But it's indispensable to those
to whom it is given to believe, as the Lord Jesus Christ says,
to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. So what have we learned today
of this doctrine of Christ, the doctrine that he preached? We've
learned that it's a mystery and it requires spiritual illumination
to understand it. We've learned that it's not given
to those that are without the covenant purposes of God and
salvation, but to those who are within the covenant of grace. and we have learned that it is
the heart of sovereign love and the substance of gospel preaching. Now, I'm pretty much ready to
bring my thoughts to an end now, but I want to conclude, as it
were, with a special bonus of some comments from a good friend
and mentor of mine, a man called Robert Hawker. Here's what Hawker
has to say on this subject. What a mystery is the gospel
of salvation and the blessed contents of it. What a mystery
is that great and fundamental truth, God in Christ and Christ
in God. What a mystery that three sacred
persons should be in one and yet the same eternal undivided
Jehovah. What a mystery Jesus speaks of
when he is addressing the Father and speaking of himself and his
church, I in them and thou in me. What a mystery, yea, what
a great mystery is godliness. God manifest in the flesh, justified
in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory. And then Mr. Hawker concludes with this beautiful
thought. And is there not another mystery? to every truly regenerated believer,
as great, yea, if possible, greater than any, namely, that I should
believe in Jesus, and Christ be formed in my heart, the hope
of glory, when thousands neither know the Lord, nor believe the
record God hath given of his dear Son. End of quote. May the Lord Jesus Christ teach
us his glorious gospel, give us to know its mysteries, open
our eyes and ears to see and hear its truth, and stir within
our hearts an appetite, a hungering and a thirsting after righteousness,
remembering that it is Jesus Christ himself who is the Lord
our righteousness. Amen.