The Servant King - Within You

Pastor Calvin Lee


(Con't) The servant king - within you


Mark 4:3-34


The Big Idea :

kingdom of God is not a place but within us


There are 4 parables in chapter 4 :
(1) The parable of the seed
(2) the parable of the Lamp
(3) the parable of the Seed growing
(4) the parable of the Mustard seed


4 places / conditions where the seed fell on :
(1)hard ground (a hardened heart)
- the word of God could not penetrate.
- the heart refuse to rethink the word of God

(2) rocky places (a shallow heart)
- superficial acceptance and then the word goes off
- full of emotional response but short lived

(3) among thorns (a crowded heart)
- good soil but somehow crowded with thorns, distracted heart with worldly things

(4) good soil (a fruitful heart)


4 principles / commitment that help us understand this parable :
(1) it is needful to keep ploughing the soil of our hearts
- we must not neglect to take out the thorns and weeds in our hearts
- we need to till and toil the soil in our hearts (jeremiah 4:3)

(2) the fruit in our lives is determined by the root of our lives
- don't focus so much on the external
- strengthen our roots by allowing the word of God to be grounded in our hearts
(Ephesians 3:17)
- if it is shallow, when wind and rain blows we'll be easily uprooted


(3) truth alone will not change lives. But truth applied will change lives
- hearing is not good enough (James 1:22)
- the seed/word must be firmly planted so into the hearts of men
- what is a good sermon?
B - that sermon must be biblically grounded
U - that sermon must unashamedly proclaimed the cross
I - that sermon must be insightful (fresh incarnation of the word)
L - that sermon must lived out / challenge you
D - that sermon must be delivered well with clarity and conviction

(4) when we allow God to reign in our hearts, miraculously the seed in us will grow and multiply
- there is power in the word therefore, when you allow the word to take root in your heart, the word will help you to grow and multiply powerfully
- the word will strengthen the faith inside our hearts
Psalm 1:1-3