And He Spoke the Word to Them
Mark 4 v33-34
Halifax: 26 May 2019, 10:30 am

Introduction
For the past few weeks, we have been looking at the parables Jesus told about the kingdom of God that are recorded in Mark 4.
- We have seen Jesus’ explanation of His use of parables.
- We have seen the Parable of the Sower with its explanation.
- We have seen the Parable of the Lamp, of the Growing Seed, and of the Mustard Seed.
Today we come to the conclusion of this section of parables in Mark.
- It is only a brief conclusion, but there are some very precious truths here that we would do well to take to heart.

Mark 4 v33-34.
This little text answers a question that people often ask:
- If God were to come into the world, what would He say to us?
- The answer is that He has come and that He spoke parables, telling us the good news about the kingdom of righteousness that He was establishing for sinners so that we could be restored to God and bear fruit that pleases Him.
We will consider three things about what Jesus said to us according to Mark 4 v33-34.
- Let me give you an overview of these three things so you will know where we are going.

I. Jesus speaks the word to all.
II. Jesus speaks as they are able to hear.
III. Jesus speaks freely to His disciples in private.
Now let us consider each of these three points in detail.

I. First, that Jesus speaks the word to all.
- After recording four of Jesus’ parables, Mark here reveals to us in verse 33 that: with many such parables He spoke the word to them.
A. This conveys to us that it was the gospel that Jesus was making known.
1. Mark tells us that it was the word that He spoke by these parables.
2. Mark has given us four parables as a sample of what His many parables were like, and we can see that they were about the good news of the kingdom…
a. There were the ones about His kingdom (the Sower, the Growing Seed).
b. There were the parables about Jesus (the Lamp, the Mustard Seed).
3. The parables show us that through Jesus there will arise in the earth a mighty kingdom for God.

B. This word of the gospel by parables was declared to the multitude.
1. The gospel is freely offered to all who hear it.
2. Those rightly heard these parable would be encouraged by them to see the kingdom that Jesus was proclaiming.
C. How the word of Christ ought to be cherished by all who hear it!
1. What an excellent thing it is to have God come and speak such words of grace to us.
2. Mark says that this is the word of God. It has all authority. It expresses gracious love.
3. It is Jesus’ delight to make the kingdom known to us. He spoke many parables.