“In that day,” declares the Lord,
“you will call me ‘my husband’;
you will no longer call me ‘my master,
Hosea 2:16
Are you going through life, as a Christian, operating on the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Congratulations; God has revealed to your heart such passages as :
In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:33
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. Matt.16:24
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Matt. 7:22,23
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, Col.2:6
If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Rom. 10:9
If you want more there are whole books written on Lordship salvation - one that comes to mind is The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur. I must say I am in agreement with this theology. However, there is a higher calling than Lordship! It is marriage to Christ as illustrated in this passage in Hosea. For those of you women reading this who were uncomfortable with being "sons" of God (which btw probably has to do with receiving inheritance and rights in those days) now get to watch us men squirm as the "brides" of Christ. When we are in love with Jesus our motivations for actions change. When I fell in love with Karen I didn't say, "I guess I better call her today." I willingly spent hours on the phone. I didn't say, "I better tell someone about her today." I was showing her picture to everyone that would oblige me. When we fall in love with Jesus we don't say, "I have to read my Bible today" - it's "I get to". It's not "I better tell someone about Him today" - It's "I get to witness today." Etc.
This is the thrust of our journey through Mark - falling back in love with Jesus, examining What is so awesome about Jesus? Maybe, hopefully by doing this we will see what is so winsome about Christ and becoming his passionate bride (ouch)
CHAPTER 4
1. Read Mark 3:7-14 and 4:1-2
List 4 reasons why people may have been in attendance
A. Mark 3:10 ___________________________________
B. John 6:30 ___________________________________
C. Matt. 22:15 ____________________________________
D. John 8:30,31 ____________________________________
How do you think groups A & B would have felt about Him starting to teach?
How would group C have felt and why?
How would group D have felt and why?
2. Read Mark 4:3-8, 14-20. What are the 4 types of soil and what do they represent?
E. ______________________________
F. _____________________________
G. _____________________________
H. _____________________________
Notice the 4 groups (A-D) could be placed with some accuracy among the different soils. The rocky and thorny could really be grouped together as people who believed the message but decided it was too costly and therefore didn't continue on. The last soil became disciples and I feel like the passage tells us 7 marks of good soil
1. Read Matt.14:20-22 and 15:39. What was the typical pattern after a day of miracles and teaching?
Read Matt. 8:18-22 which chronologically fits with Mark 4. What was required for being a disciple?
Putting those 2 together read Mark 4:10,24-25,34-36. Who got the interpretation?
What does that tell us about the good soil?
2. Read Mark 4:20. Good soil produces fruit. What is fruit? (Gal. 5:22,23)
3. Mark 4:21-23 and Matt. 10:32,33. Good soil ______________.
4. Mark 4:26-29. Good soil ________________.
5. Mark 4:30-32. Birds land on the Jesus tree. Read Matt.25:34-40. What should good soil be known for?
6. Mark 4:37-40, Isa. 8:12. As good soil we should respond to trials differently than the world does. Why is that?
If you are familiar with the apostle Paul in the storm, how was his response different from the disciples in Mark 4?
If you were having difficulty answering #4, maybe this is a hint.
7. Mark 4:41. What was the difference in response of the disciples to the storm (40) and Jesus (41). How does good soil approach God?
Summary
The word seed appears 12 times in this passage. The sower sowed seed. What is that seed? The gospel / the Word of God. Who is the good news (gospel)? Jesus. Who is the Word? Jesus. Jesus is the seed that was sown into the world and although started very small, now fills the world. The fact is though, if you wanted to get to Jesus you had to come into His presence face to face. He was limited in time and space when He came to Earth. Picture this; Jesus comes to your church this Sunday. How exciting! After he preaches you rush up to meet Him, talk to Him, have Him bless your kids, etc. Unfortunately 100 people beat you in line. By 5:00 the word is out to all the other churches and people are all cutting in line to see Him. You get the picture ... frustrating. That's why Jesus says in John 12:24, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds." When Jesus died, rose again, and ascended into Heaven, He sent to Earth the Holy Spirit. Suddenly that seed that you had to wait in line to see is available to all believers from the USA to outer Mongolia on a 24/7/365 basis. No waiting - instant access.
This leads me to the word for the week - WITH. Jesus picked 12 to be with Him. The degree to which the crowd wanted to be with Him was the degree to which His truths were revealed and who He is was revealed. He was with them in the boat and everyone with Him in the boat or other boats got a bigger view of who He is. The ones who said "I want to sleep at home" or "what about my family" didn't get the interpretation of what He said. The degree to which we leave behind everything either actually or mentally to follow Jesus is the degree to which we get Him and the degree to which that Seed grows in our lives. I believe it determines if you are going to produce 30, 60, or 100 fold. In other words if you give a tenth of your income vs. 70%, which one is going to bear more fruit. If you give an hour of your Saturday vs. 8 hours to serve the needy, who do you think is going to bear more fruit or for that measure get a bigger view of Jesus? The disciples were afraid of the storm but they became terrified of Jesus. That is called developing a fear of God and forming proper worship in our lives.
If I could upgrade the word a little I would change it to WITH - IN. The disciples had to be with Him as He was a single seed. Now that He has sent the Holy Spirit He is in us. The Seed has sent multiple Seed into the world to be planted in all believers who then produce fruit which is technically the manifestation of Christ in us. We start becoming Jesus to unbelievers to the degree we abide in the vine.
So what is so awesome about Jesus? How about that the one who could stop not only a hurricane but all the ripple effect of the water just by saying, "Be Quiet!", is with you and in you. He has come into your boat and He isn't going to leave. Do you feel special? You should. Do you feel unworthy? You ought to. Do you love Him for it? That is what we are aiming for. I certainly hope so.
Lord I love You for being here with me. As I was praying for help with an endeavor I almost felt like You were saying, "Oh, now you are coming to me. I've been here all week and you just come to Me when you need something." Forgive me for taking your presence so lightly and not passionately talking to You all day long. Why You came to be inside me is beyond me but I am eternally grateful!
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