[0:00] This morning we will be picking up in verse 21 and we will be reading down to verse 34. So Mark chapter 4 verses 21 through 34.! Brother Jamie was correct when he was stating with you that much of what he was discussing as it pertains to light, we will also see a little bit this morning.
[0:18] And then the first hymn we sang was heavenly sunlight. And these things were not planned and coordinated. We can't plan church services that well. At least I can't. I'm not that good at administration.
[0:31] So we are getting hit repeatedly with this theme, but it is because the Lord wants us to know it. So if you are physically able and desire to do so, would you join with me as we stand together and we read the word of God found in Mark chapter 4 starting in verse 21 and reading down to verse 34.
[0:49] The word of God says, And he, that's Christ, was saying to them, A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it? Or under a bed. Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand?
[1:01] For nothing is hidden except to be revealed. Nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear. And he was saying to them, Take care what you listen to.
[1:14] By your standard of measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him more shall be given. And whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
[1:27] And he was saying, The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil. And he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows. How?
[1:37] He himself does not know. The soil produces crops by itself. First the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.
[1:51] And he said, How shall we picture the kingdom of God? Or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.
[2:14] With many such parables, he was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it. And he did not speak to them without a parable, but he was explaining everything privately to his own disciples.
[2:27] Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the glorious opportunity we have to come together as your people. Lord, as we've gathered together with one another, we've been drawn to this place to hear your word, and now, O God, we say speak.
[2:47] Speak to our hearts and minds. May the truthfulness of Scripture resonate within our very being. We pray that what we hear is not the opinion or thought of man, but it is the very word of God.
[3:00] For man's thoughts can only affect us so far, but the word of God can lead us into eternity. So now, O God, we ask that we would hear a word from you, that it would bring glory and honor to your name, that Christ would be magnified, and that we as your people would be edified.
[3:20] And Lord, would you draw us closer, each and every one of us, to you through it. And we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. Amen. This past week, we were looking at the parable of the soils, the four different types of soils that were represented in that parable, and we saw the reality that when Christ went upon the shore of the sea and the crowd was gathered so large that he was forced to get into a boat and sat down in the boat and began speaking to them, that he taught the multitudes through parables.
[3:54] We have looked at the reality that if we put all three synoptic gospels together, that is Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that we would understand that on this occasion, no less than ten parables were declared to the multitude.
[4:10] But yet, the very first parable, the parable of the soils, Jesus tells the disciples when they ask him about it privately. Because while he was teaching in parables to the crowds, he was declaring the truth and revealing the truth privately to the disciples and the apostles.
[4:27] Jesus made this declarative statement. He said, If you don't understand it, how will you understand any parable? So we acknowledge the reality that apparently the parable of the soil is the key to the understanding of the remaining ones.
[4:43] And we had to have a foundational understanding of what Christ was declaring there before we could assume to understand what he declares in the others.
[4:55] And that foundational understanding was that the gospel was pictured like an individual scattering seed. And seed was falling upon various types of soil. But there was but one soil that was fruitful and productive and produced an abundant crop.
[5:09] And we acknowledged that we must not assume that we are the good soil. So we acknowledged in those soils that there are struggles that each and every one of us can face.
[5:19] There are temptations which can steal away the effectiveness and the fruitfulness of the kingdom. But we also acknowledge that when the seed is sown and the soil is prepared, that the kingdom produces fruit, that it is fruitful.
[5:35] There is no such thing as a fruitless believer. The word of God declares to us that you will bear much fruits.
[5:46] Now we do not always understand what that fruit is and sometimes we look back in hindsight and we know what God is doing. But we also understand the reality that Christ says if we abide in him and he abides in us, then we will bear much fruits.
[6:02] And with that interpretation in mind, he continues to teach. And he teaches one unique parable here to Mark and that is the parable of the seed upon the soil and how it sprouts.
[6:14] Only Mark records that. But he also makes a declarative statement starting in verse 21 concerning the lamp. So we ask ourselves, what exactly is he speaking about?
[6:26] And I want you to see this morning, the burden of revelation. The burden of revelation. And you say, Pastor, what do you mean?
[6:38] Well, hopefully we will see by the time we get to the end of the text exactly what I mean, but we've said it before. That when God reveals a truth to us, then the burden rests upon us to declare that truth to those around us.
[6:54] That's a good way of saying is God doesn't tell us something just so we can gain information. He does not tell us something or reveal something to us just so that we can have a lot of head knowledge of the truthfulness of Scripture.
[7:08] The first thing that is revealed to us is our desperate need for a Savior. God draws us to himself through conviction and the work of the Holy Spirit. We're told that the Holy Spirit comes to bring conviction and reality of sin, to break our hearts and to turn our stomachs and to help us to understand we need Jesus.
[7:28] Friend, listen, when Christ was drawing me to the Father, I didn't need anyone to tell me how bad I was. What I needed was someone to tell me how as bad as I was, I could be made good.
[7:39] And that is when Christ drew me with the love of the Savior, that he would forgive me and cleanse me from all of my wickedness and all my filthy ways.
[7:50] That was the very first truth, the necessary truth to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But the revelation doesn't stop there. Because Christ doesn't call us to make a commitment, he calls us to enter into a relationship.
[8:05] And that relationship bears revelation knowledge. And the more we learn and the more we grow and the more we understand, then the more burden rests upon us.
[8:20] And we take this in context because Jesus declares these things after immediately clearing the truth of the parable to his disciples.
[8:31] So hopefully we will see that. We see that the burden of revelation comes, number one, with a calling. With a calling. It says, and he was saying to them.
[8:44] Now in context, we need to understand who them are. This is not saying that he was saying to the multitudes or to the crowds, but he is saying to those who have just asked him, what does this mean?
[8:57] To those he has just declared the meaning of the parable of the soils to. To those who are nearest to him. And in this, we don't ever want to forget this fact.
[9:11] The fringe multitude had the truth veiled before them. That is, you don't come to understand who God is until you know Christ.
[9:24] We can't understand him intellectually. We cannot understand him emotionally. We would have ears but cannot hear.
[9:36] And eyes but cannot see. Lest our ears be opened. And our eyes be enlightened. Only through a relationship with Jesus Christ do we come to the understanding of the truth.
[9:48] And now he says to those who hear the truth, a lamp is not brought to be put under a basket or under a bed.
[9:59] He makes this declarative statement. That a lamp has no purpose to be put under a basket or to be put under a bed. But he says, no, is it not brought to be put on a lampstand?
[10:09] Now we say, well sure, that makes a lot of sense. But then immediately our mind ought to go to where else scripture speaks of this reality. Because, I've told you this, the greatest commentary on scripture is what?
[10:24] Scripture. If you want to know what scripture means, then look at what scripture says. Now I'm not dogging at all great commentaries on scripture. I have shelves full of books.
[10:35] And if you were to go into my office right now, you would probably find, if I could count them accurately, there may be five or six different study bibles scattered across my desk. There are commentaries on each and every book of the Bible.
[10:48] And there are great voices of wisdom because a wise man seeks counsel of other individuals. But the primary commentary on scripture ought to be scripture.
[11:00] And that is the first place that we ought to go. We need to look and see what scripture says about this reality before we try to assume what someone else has understood about the reality.
[11:12] And so if we do that, we go back to the very first understanding of this truth. And to find that, we have to go back to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 14. It's right after this well-known statement of the Beatitudes.
[11:24] It's the Sermon on the Mount, if you were to go there. But it is there. After he declares the Beatitudes, blessed are those, blessed are those, blessed are those. You understand the Beatitudes. But then in Matthew chapter 5, verse 14, Jesus says, You are the light of the world.
[11:39] You are a lamp. Wait a minute, that's that same word. Set upon a hill. So let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
[11:50] So now we're beginning to put it together, right? Jesus says to his disciples, You are the lamp. And then we come over here to the Gospel of Mark. He says, But a lamp is not brought in to be hidden.
[12:04] A lamp has a purpose. A lamp is to be set upon a pedestal. You say, Oh, Pastor, I don't want to be seen. I don't want to blend in.
[12:16] I'm not prideful. I'm humble. And I don't want anyone to acknowledge me. And I don't ever want to be on the forefront. Listen, don't let a false sense of humility remove your effectiveness.
[12:27] You say, Pastor, you're offending me. What Jesus himself said, You are a city set upon a hill. So let your good works shine before men. That doesn't have anything to do with pride.
[12:38] Now, if you're letting them shine so that they can say, Oh, look at how good that person is. That's pride. But if you let them shine so that they may glorify your Father who is in heaven, that's usefulness.
[12:50] Understand the difference. Jesus says, You are a lamp. And then he declares in the Gospel of Mark, And you don't buy a lamp to hide it. Now, stay with me. It is the burden of revelation.
[13:02] So if you have been purchased with the blood of the Lamb, you have been made a lamp in the kingdom of God. And he didn't bring you in to hide you. Peter declares the same thing.
[13:17] So now we have the testimony of Jesus. And we have the testimony of Peter. And the Bible says, Upon the testimony of two or more things shall be settled. In 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 19 through 20, Peter says that the word of revelation is the lamp in the darkest of places.
[13:37] Well, what is the word of revelation? It is the word that has been entrusted to the people of God. Notice what he says. It is the calling.
[13:48] He says, You have been called for nothing is hidden. So when we looked at that last parable, we saw the reality that from the crowds, the truth of the kingdom was hidden.
[13:58] Those who said Jesus was full of the demonic spirit. Those who said he cast out demons by the power of demons. They couldn't see the truth of the kingdom. It was a veiled reality.
[14:11] It was a mystery, it tells us, to those in the crowd. But to those who were with Christ, it was revealed the mystery was opened. Paul says later on that the mystery of the kingdom has been revealed in these latter days.
[14:24] And when Paul starts talking about the mystery, you know what he begins doing after he talks about the mystery? He begins declaring the mystery. Why? Because Jesus says, Nothing is hidden lest it be revealed, and nothing is kept secret lest it be told.
[14:38] Some of us think, Well, that means he's going to see all my secret things. Well, you don't need to have him say that. It already tells us that in the word of God. It tells us in that beautiful psalm, Psalm 139, when you were knit together and formed and fashioned in your mother's womb.
[14:52] I love Psalm 139. But you know what else it says? Is that he knows you intimately. He knows your every thoughts. He knows your every captains. He knows your every meditations. He knows everything that is about you, though he loves you still.
[15:05] Oh, what a powerful testimony. That he knows everything about you. And yet, he loves you. This isn't what that passage is telling you.
[15:17] What this passage is saying is you are the lamp who knows the things that are mysterious and hidden, and it is your job to shine it. Because when we looked at the last one, we said, Well, how unfair for Christ to veil the truth of the gospel.
[15:36] How unfair that they had no opportunity to hear. No, how gracious that God was drawing men and women called disciples to his side so that he could impart to them the truth.
[15:51] So that they then could shine because Jesus says, Greater works than I do, you will do. You will shine in far brighter places than I've ever been. Because that's the calling.
[16:03] The calling is that he doesn't impart truth to you. Those things that are hidden from others so that you could keep them for yourself. When you understand the mystery of the gospel, and it is mysterious.
[16:19] He says, Oh, pastor, there's nothing mysterious about it. Whosoever accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior shall be saved. Well, tell me how it happens. The wind blows where it wants, and no man knows how.
[16:32] It's a mystery. People say, Explain your salvation. I say, Well, I can't. Jesus Christ came, and he called me to himself. I fell upon my knees, and I said, Oh, Father, forgive me.
[16:43] I don't know where I'm going. I put my life in your hands, and from that moment on, he took it. Well, what happened, pastor? I don't know. Something astounding and amazing. My heart was made new.
[16:55] Who has the power to turn the leopards spots, to change the spot on the leopards? Who can change the crimson stain of my blood to white as snow? It's a mysterious thing. But when you know that, then it's the burden of the revelation that calls you to tell others.
[17:15] See, it is not that Christ is hiding the truth. It is no that he is bringing in lamps of the truth. We look at the Old Testament concerning the nation of Israel.
[17:27] We say, Oh, was it fair that God chose a particular people? And I say, Oh, my friend, there's nothing more fair in the world than that God chose one. Oh, that God chose Abram out of the land of the Ur-Chaldeans.
[17:38] You say, Oh, that's unfair. What about all the rest of the people in the world? Well, all the rest of the people, nobody else in the world would have ever come to know who God is had he not chose one. Because he chose one to be his representative to all.
[17:51] Right? He had to choose one. He had to bring in one that would be a billboard to a watching world. And by choosing one, he was extending grace and mercy to all.
[18:01] See, he wasn't hiding the truth eternally. He was imparting the truth in a mysterious way to those who would shine the light.
[18:12] That's the calling. Number two, look at the caution. There is a caution to this. He says, Since the lamp is brought to be put on a lampstand, and nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light, and if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.
[18:31] That would be the disciples. They were given the ears. So, because of that, he gives this caution. He was saying to them, Take care what you listen to.
[18:42] Take care what you listen to. Bible scholars go back and forth exactly what this phrase means, and I believe it means a little bit of each. It means be careful how you listen, and be careful to what you listen to.
[19:00] Because, see, the teaching and truth of Christ is the oil in our lamps of light. When Jesus was speaking about a lamp, he was talking about a shallow bowl that was full of oil that had a wick, and the oil was there to saturate the wick, and it is the truth that Christ imparts, which is the oil in our lamps that are to shine.
[19:23] And so we need to be careful how we listen. That is, make sure that we're listening to good, true doctrine. Make sure that we're hearing him accurately.
[19:34] Make sure that we're doing our due diligence to study to show yourself approved. You say, Oh, that's what Paul wrote to Timothy, the pastor. Right, but I believe in the priesthood of the believers. It's a very baptistic doctrine.
[19:46] The priesthood of the believers. And if the pastor is to study to show himself approved, so much so are you. Study to show himself approved, a workman not ashamed of the gospel.
[19:57] Be careful how you listen. But also, make sure that what you're listening to is not diluting the truth in your life, lest the light you shine not know what it should be.
[20:08] Make sure that you're not mixing hypocrisy or falsehood with the truth of Christ. I've got an old piece of equipment on our farm.
[20:21] It starts just about every time. Now, I've done a little bit of work on it. A friend of mine done a little bit of work on it. It's an old loader, but it has one minor problem. And that is that when it rains, water gets mixed in with the diesel fuel.
[20:33] And some of you are going to come up and say, Oh, pastor, you've got to get that fixed. And I say, Well, okay, that's fine. I deal with it. So yesterday, I jumped up on it. It rained a couple of times since I've had it. And it's got a leak.
[20:44] And the duct tape that was used by the previous owner of this piece of equipment doesn't hold as much as it used to hold. So a little bit of water got in there. And it's not that big of a problem. Because I'll tell you what you have. You just have to put up with it for a minute.
[20:56] It rained a couple of times. I make often the gold started every time it rains, but I forgot. Oh, it was spitting and sputtering, so I just threw it wide open. You know, just like every one of you would do. Just let it blow it out.
[21:08] Right? After a little bit of smoking, the thing started running just as good as it ought to, and it could do its job. But too often in our lives, we're not careful. We're not careful what we listen to.
[21:21] And it all gets diluted. And the light's not as bright as it ought to be. Because we don't take care. There's the caution. But there's another caution in here.
[21:34] Look at the second caution. It's not only take... By your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. And more will be given you besides.
[21:46] For whoever has, to him more shall be given. But whoever does not have, even what he has, shall be taken away. Here's the caution. You say, Pastor, do I really have to do this? Well, here's the caution.
[21:57] By your standard of measure, it will be measured back to you. And mark my word. I want you to do a little research throughout history, and even in your own life. Mark my word. Those who attempt to gain information and truth.
[22:10] Those who have revelation. And they do it for the sole benefit of themselves. And never impart it to others. Usually stagnate.
[22:21] And then decline. If their relationship with the Lord is all about themselves. Never imparting it.
[22:31] Never declaring it. Never showing it. They're not measuring it out to anyone. God won't give them anymore. He doesn't want to puff anyone up.
[22:44] He hates a prideful look. But for those who begin to measure it out, and to give it away, and to give it away, and to give it away, and to give it away, let me tell you what I've just learned. Let me show.
[22:54] And they bear the burden of shining the light. God imparts to them a little bit more, a little bit more, a little bit more, and a little bit more. One of the most foolish things the church ever did for me is when I was a six-month believer, say, hey, we need you to teach an adult Sunday school class.
[23:09] Hey, I don't know. They were desperate. And I said, well, that makes no sense, but I'll do it if you don't have someone. And in teaching that, I had very little Bible information. But I was not a good student at following book curriculums.
[23:21] I can't stand workbooks. I just don't like them. I'm sorry. I know some of you are teachers. I just don't like them, right? So I could not teach from it. So I was in a fix there. I had to teach the Scripture to these adults who had been believers longer than I.
[23:34] And every week, without a shadow of a doubt, they were there sitting in front of me, looking at me. So I was a six-month believer, right? I was the most willing candidate. That is, I was a gullible guy who wanted to do something. So they put me in front of them, and I had to start teaching.
[23:46] And teaching I did. And you know what? I found out the more I taught, the more I learned. And then they said, okay, we need someone to work with the youth. And if adults don't scare you, teenagers will.
[23:57] So they put me in a room, and I got 20 teenagers in front of me, and they ask totally different questions than adults. Their brains haven't matured and developed far enough along that they don't ask tough questions, right?
[24:07] Adults, they spare you a little bit, and they just kind of let you get away with it. Teenagers don't care. They want to make you look silly, make you look foolish. So for 15, 16 years, I worked with teenagers. Learned more teaching teenagers than I did anyone else.
[24:22] And then at the ripe old age of 25, I began pastoring. Actually, I was preaching by the time I was 24. Three years into my salvation. Didn't know enough to do it. People said, you're too young to preach.
[24:33] I said, you know what? I think you're right. My first sermons are awful. I mean, I'll just tell you, they're terrible. I went back and looked at them, and they were terrible.
[24:43] But you know what I found out? The more I poured out, the more he poured in. And as I kept pouring, he kept pouring. Kept pouring, he kept pouring. What if I said, God, I don't know enough?
[24:56] And I don't say this to puff me up, because I promise you, I still don't know enough. I don't. I'm just trusting that he who has the truth will give me the truth. And I say, Lord, here I am.
[25:10] Because here's the caution. How you measure it out will be how it's measured back to you. If you're never giving it out, you can't expect to have it come back.
[25:23] So I want to know more of God. I want to learn more of my scripture than begin telling others what you already know. And when you tell them what you already know, nobody's coming in. I don't know if it blew open.
[25:34] Some of you heard it. Some of you didn't, so that's good. That's why I have that door open. Thank you, brother. Anyway, so we understand that if we want to know more, then share more. By your standard of measure, there's the caution.
[25:52] Number three, conviction. We have this burden of revelation with a clear conviction. And this gets us to that truth that is unique to the gospel of Mark.
[26:03] And he was saying the kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil. Notice the repetition of the casting of the seed. That is, something will be done. Who casts seed upon the soil.
[26:14] Goes to bed at night and gets up by day. And he casts seed, sprouts, and grows. How? He himself does not know. Here's the conviction. That the calling calls us to labor.
[26:27] And the caution is that we must be careful that we have this pure seed. And we are indeed casting it out. But the conviction of the reality is that we do not need to know how it works.
[26:40] We don't need to know. You say, oh, well, if I just knew people would come to Christ. If I shared the gospel with them, I'd share it with everybody I knew. But the conviction is, is we don't know who will or even how they will.
[26:54] We just know we're supposed to scatter this seed. That is, the conviction that salvation is of the Lord. I know pastors who have put too heavy of a burden upon themselves.
[27:06] Standing up every time. And if they don't see the response coming as they think that it should, then they count themselves a failure. And they walk away in the fog of depression saying, oh, I have done a miserable job and I have failed.
[27:19] Friend, listen, plenty of times I can guarantee you that I stepped down saying I butchered that sermon. Plenty of times I can go to that back door and I, in the depth of my being, I say I failed miserably.
[27:31] I have stood in the back next to your pastor's wife and said, I really messed that one up. But the reality is, I have a deep-seated conviction that the word of God will not return void.
[27:44] So even if I fail, the word of God will not fail. And it will do exactly what it is intended to do. My conviction is that when I open up scripture and we read the word of God, if I butcher the rest of it, the word of God will not fail.
[28:00] For the results are not up to me, they're up to the Lord God himself. That is my deep-seated conviction. That is a conviction because I scatter the seed, I throw the seed, I go to sleep, I get up, I go to sleep, get up.
[28:14] It begins to grow and I do not know how. That's a conviction. And unless we have that conviction, the enemy will set up on our shoulders and say, see, you're not doing any good.
[28:26] See, no matter how much seed you scatter, there's no fruit. See, you're not doing good at this whole thing. See, you're just a failure. Your friend, don't listen to the reality that it's not your work.
[28:39] Your work is to throw the seed. It's his work to make it grow. If I could give one admonition to any young pastor, it would be that. Now 20 years into the pastoral ministry, I would look at every young pastor in the eye and say, it's not your job.
[28:57] Preach the word and leave it on the ground. If I could look at every believer, I would say the same thing. Declare the truth of scripture, let the light shine and leave the results up to the Lord God Almighty.
[29:10] For you. There's the conviction we must possess. Well, that conviction comes with a certain reality, too. In verse 29.
[29:20] But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. As convicted of the reality that I am that the work is not mine to be done, I am also convicted of the reality that the fruit will come.
[29:35] That it will come. I may not know the time, but when it permits, it will come. There will be a day of fruitfulness. Why? Because the Bible declares in the verses immediately before this that some seed will fall on good soil and it will produce a fruit.
[29:54] 30, 60, and 100 fold. There will be a day where the sickle needs to be brought out and the harvest needs to be brought in because the fruit has come. I don't know how long it's going to take, but I do know that it will come.
[30:05] That is a settled reality in my mind. When I sat down here with the pastor search committee, they were asking great questions.
[30:17] And they asked me to explain how I did church growth and how I did things like that. And I looked at them and I said, this is what I do. I stand up every week and I preach scripture. I don't do programs.
[30:28] I don't know anything about programs. I don't know. I'm not a really good personality. I don't do anything that all I know is I'm going to stand up and preach. I'm going to study and preach. I'm going to study and preach. I'm going to study and preach. And I believe that the word of God will do its work.
[30:41] That's all I know. You say, well, that's a very elementary level of education, right? Well, I'd rather be elementary in that than excelling in the things of the world. These are my convictions and it ought to be yours.
[30:55] Why? Because it's the burden of revelation. Fourth and finally, listen to this. Look at this conclusion. There is a conclusion to it all. And he said, how shall we picture the kingdom of God or by what parable shall we present it?
[31:08] It is like a mustard seed, which one's sown upon the soil. See the repetition again. Something sown upon the soil. When sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil.
[31:19] Now, I know if you're looking at this scientifically, there are seeds smaller than the mustard seed. But, demographically, when Christ was speaking to those people, the smallest seed they sowed upon the ground was the mustard seed.
[31:31] That's why it's always important to take the text in context, right? He was speaking to those people in that particular time. That was their smallest seed. He says, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches so that the birds of the air can nest in its shade.
[31:49] Here's the conclusion. The impact of the kingdom affects all around it. The light that is shown through the lamp and the seeds that are scattered, the work of the lamps that have been put on the lampstand, the burden of the revelation has an influence and impact because the statement, the birds of the air can nest under its shade is a statement repeated throughout scripture.
[32:14] And it is picturesque of the nations being born. It is more than just one demographic of people group, but rather it is a phrase used to declare the multitudes of tongues and tribes and nations around the light of the gospel.
[32:32] When we let the truth of Jesus permeate our lives, then we come to this conclusion that all are affected by the impact of the kingdom. And that those from every tongue, from every tribe and from every nation will rest under the shade of the kingdom's branches.
[32:49] Because that's our calling. Our calling is to take the revelation we have been given. And the burden of that revelation is to stand in such a way that the nations are drawn to the Savior.
[33:03] Moved for his glory and their good. And they find rest underneath the shadow of the branch that is known as the kingdom of God. Revelation comes to each and every one of us.
[33:16] You say, well, pastor, I don't know much about scripture. But then the first revelation you need is you need to know Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. Because nothing starts until you get there.
[33:30] These truths were declared to his disciples and his apostles. So the first thing we must know is that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. And we are walking with him in a relationship of salvation.
[33:42] Drawing near his side. Asking him honest questions. Listening at the feet of Christ. You say, well, I know Jesus is my Lord and Savior. But I don't know what it is he's called me to do.
[33:53] Well, then go and ask him. You say, well, how do I ask him? Well, we have the full revelation of the word of God. Written here from Genesis to Revelation. Open up the word.
[34:06] He'll speak to you. When you speak, speak not with the wisdom of man, but with the wisdom of God as he speaks into your hearts and minds. This wording where he says, for nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.
[34:20] In the gospel of Luke, he said that what I whisper to you in secret, you proclaim in the light. Sometimes we need to spend moments with Christ.
[34:30] Allowing him to pour the oil of that truth into our hearts and minds. And then taking what he gives us and go and shining it to those around us. Throwing it up on the soil so that it may take root.
[34:44] Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for your blessings upon each and every of us. For the blessing of the opportunity to be here. We pray now that you would move by the power and work of your Holy Spirit.
[34:59] You would speak to our hearts and minds even now. Drawing us closer to your side. May you be glorified and honored in all that takes place. In Jesus' name.
[35:09] Amen. Amen. Thank you.