Mark 4:24
- A disciple of Jesus should be careful who he listens to; not all preachers teach the whole word of God.
- Jesus urged his disciples to flee from false teachers in the same way that sheep flee from an alien shepherd (John 10:5).
- A false teacher may look and sound like a real preacher, but when you examine what is being preached, it does not line up with God’s Word. Therefore, a disciple of Jesus needs to always consider what is being preached so that he does not blindly listen to a false teacher.
- The one who listens to God’s word with disinterest will lose interest even more, but the one who listens to God’s word with a hunger for more will also receive more.
Mark 4:26
- It is the Christian’s task to tell about the kingdom of God, and it is God’s task to make the kingdom grow in a person’s heart.
- Life itself is in the seed, not in the soil or in the sowing. It is important for a preacher to trust that God’s word is at work in a person’s heart, without the preacher trying to create life by, for example, manipulating a “spiritual atmosphere” or something similar.
- God told Isaiah that his word is like rain falling from the sky; “it does not turn back in vain, but does what I want and carries out my mission” (Isa 55:11).
- When God’s word has been allowed to grow, it is the Christian’s task to reap and see the fruit of his work.
- If a preacher sees very little harvest, it may be because he simply has to be patient, keep preaching God’s word and let God work.
- If a preacher sees very little harvest, it may also be because he is not preaching God’s word, but mostly his own.