Sermon Tone Analysis

Advance The Gospel

Parables

Explanation / Definition

A parable is a story or figure placed alongside a teaching to help us understand its meaning.

It is much more than “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning,” and it certainly is not an “illustration” such as a preacher would use in a sermon.

A true parable gets the listener deeply involved and compels that listener to make a personal decision about God’s truth and his or her life.

So penetrating and personal are parables that, after they heard several of them, the religious leaders wanted to kill the Lord Jesus! (see Matt. 21:45–46)

Glow , Sow, Grow , & Know!

Lets take a look at our text

A Lamp Under a Basket

21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?

22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

The Parable of the Seed Growing

26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.

27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.

28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.

34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Jesus Calms a Storm

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”

Lamp Under a Basket

Vs. 21-22 Encourages Us / Don’t Hide Your Light!

A Lamp Under a Basket

21 And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?

22 For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.

23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. 25 For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

Radiant Lives

Spiritual Light

Testimony

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

The theological message found in our passage focuses on the hearing (8:18) and proclamation of God’s word (8:16–17).

Having emphasized through the preceding parable the importance of both hearing and heeding God’s word, Luke stressed the importance of the church’s proclamation of that word.

The gospel light is not meant to be hidden.

Even before the missionary commissions of 24:48 and Acts 1:8, the reader is aware of the need to spread the good news.

How will people turn from “darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins” (Acts 26:18) unless those who know the secrets of God’s kingdom (Luke 8:10) let their light shine?

The Lamp stand

The image points to Jesus as the implied agent, for whom the lamp is a metaphor.

Jesus is the lamp of God who has come to bring light and revelation (John 1:5; 8:12).

Oil lamps, one of the most common artifacts discovered by archaeologists, give optimum light when elevated in the open rather than when placed under something like “a bowl or a bed.”

The saying may have been prompted by the placement of the lampstand in the tabernacle for all to see (Exod 25:37).

4:21 repeats the thought of 2:21–22, although in different imagery

Vs. 23 : We have a Responsibility as the Hearer

Spiritual Receptivity vs. Spiritual Rejection

Peters Account - 3000 souls got saved!

Vs. 24: Warning : Pay Attention!

measure: refers to the attitude with which the word of Jesus is being recieved.

Embrace it!

Vs. 25: You Will be given more or what you have Will be taken away.

Profitable or Suffer loss!

The Parable of the Growing Seed

The Parable of the Growing Seed

26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.

27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how.

28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.

29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Kingdom of God has.......

A Beginning

A Middle

A End

It can only begin “IF” someone Partners with God and sows some seed!

the middle: the growing of the seed, the sower has nothing to do with it

Jesus likens the kingdom of God to a process of growth.

A seed is not spectacular, nor does its laborious growth attract attention.

Night and day a farmer waits for seeds; “he sleeps and gets up,” and life goes on as it always has.

But simultaneously and independent of the farmer another process is at work.

Slowly, imperceptibly, “the seed sprouts and grows.”

The seed, like the gospel, prospers of itself, and once sown sets in motion a process that leads to harvest.

Though beset by opposition from religious leaders and misunderstanding from followers, Jesus is not disheartened, distraught, or desperate.

Nor should there be anxiety among his disciples.

The faith that Jesus requires of disciples is to sleep and rise in humble confidence that God has invaded this troubled world not with a crusade but with a seed, an imperceptible “fifth column” that will grow into a fruitful harvest.

Despite the farmer’s absence and ignorance, however, the soil brings forth “all by itself” (Gk.

automatē), from which we derive the word “automatic.”

The seed contains within itself a power of generation and an orderly process of growth—“first the stalk, then the ear, then the full kernel in the ear”—that transpires quite apart from the farmer.

The Kingdom of God has an End : The Bountiful Harvest.

Whenever Jesus uses a farming analogy to explain what the Kingdom of God is like- then the Kingdom of God is like a farmer whom ends up with a successful Harvest!

There is a mystery to the growth of the seed and the development of the harvest.

It takes a good deal of faith to be a farmer, and also a good deal of patience.

Unstoppable Growth!

The growth of the seeds is in God’s hand.

The Kingdom of God has an End

we can keep the garden weeded.....

Discipleship is much like sowing seed and keeping the garden weeded.

There is a mystery to the growth of the seed and the development of the harvest.

It takes a good deal of faith to be a farmer, and also a good deal of patience.

The Parable of the Mustard seed

30 And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?

31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it.

34 He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

Small Beginnings!

The Kingdom will eventually grow in size and influence!

Our Lord began with 12 Apostles.

Later, there were as many as 500 believers (1 Cor.