Passing Over to the Other Side
By Pastor Jim May
Mark 4:1-41
Life is a wonderful journey for those who know Jesus as their Savior and Lord. With each passing day, there are new joys to experience, new blessing to enjoy and a new opportunity to love Jesus even more. Even in the midst of tests and trials, life is still a wonderful journey when you know you can put your trust in Jesus to bring you over to the other side.
The 4th chapter of the Book of Mark gives us a picture of the life that I am talking about. It all begins with Jesus, thronged by followers, and surrounded by His disciples, and all of them were hungry for more and desiring greatly to hear what Jesus had to say.
This is a picture of the church as we come together to hear the Word of the Lord. We don’t come together just for a time of social interaction, even though that is also a great thing. We come together to be a part of God’s people so that we may all worship Him, and also that we can hear His Word and be encouraged, taught and changed by the power of the Word to wash us from the things of the world that enter into our spirit every day.
We could preach a lot of sermons from Mark chapter 4 because Jesus covered a lot of ground in the time that he spent teaching on that day. The crowds were hungry for more spiritual food. The crowd continued to grow as Jesus walked along as well it should have.
I wonder if the crowds would grow like that if Jesus walked through America today? The very Son of God; God manifest in the flesh, walked among men and taught them from his own lips. What a privilege it was to be a part of the crowd that day! What power came from the words of Jesus as He taught! The words that Jesus spoke had the power of creation in them. Just as the word of God had creative power when God spoke the world into existence, so does the Word of God still have creative power in us right now!
Through the Word, our faith is made stronger. Through the Word, we know Him more. Through the Word, we are healed. Through the Word, we are set free. Through the Word, we know of Jesus and we learn that He is Lord! Thank God for the creative power of His Word!
The crowds pressed upon Him so much that Jesus decided to get into a boat and cast off, floating out into the water, so that He could speak to everyone. The water in the background would serve as a natural amplifier so that all could hear what Jesus had to say.
Jesus began to speak to the crowds in parables, using illustrated stories to get His point across. He knew that the people weren’t spiritually minded enough to understand what He wanted them to know, so he had to say it in a way that they could comprehend.
1) He told them the Parable of the Sower. You know the story. It was designed to teach the crowd that all of them were represented in that ground where the seed was sown. Some standing there would hear and be saved, but most would be in the category of rocky ground, or stolen seed, or withered seed. Jesus fully understood that most of those who heard Him teach that day would not be His disciples for long.
I know what it is like to try to preach a message knowing that many will not heed the Word of the Lord. Some of you here this morning, will pay attention, and you will grasp the full meaning of this message by the time I am finished. But I know, right now, in the very beginning that this message will fall on some hearts that are not ready to receive it.
Some of you need to break up that fallow ground. You need to put that spiritual plow of repentance and deliverance into your heart and break up that hard heart so that you can receive the seed.
Others will receive what the Word has to say to you, but you will soon forget what is said here this morning, because your relationship with the Lord is only a surface relationship. There’s no real depth there and it’s evident in the life that you are living.
Some will allow the cares of life, and the desires of the flesh to burn away what you hear this morning.
But thank God, there are some who will hear this message and allow it grow in their hearts and their lives will produce fruit from it.
That’s the message of Jesus’ parable of the sower. We could dwell there a long time and it would still be beneficial.
2) Jesus then taught the crowd about hiding a candle under a bushel, or a bed. You see, even those who will grasp the Word of the Lord and allow it to grow in them are only just beginning to fulfill the will of God in their lives. God wants them to learn His Word, not just so they can soak up the blessings of God, but so that their lives will burn for Him and the world can gain the light of the gospel from them.
What about your candle? Are you reflecting God’s light for the world to see? Our youth had a message on this just last week? Did you learn anything from it? Is your light brighter today than it was a week ago, or are you still a dim light for God? How brightly does the world see Jesus in you? The rest of that parable taught the crowd that day, that nothing is hidden from God. He knows your heart. He knows your life. He knows every word you speak. And He even knows the very thoughts that you think are hidden in your own mind.
3) Jesus then gave them a third parable concerning how that they would only get out of serving Him, what they put into it.
Mark 4:24-25, "And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath."
What do you get out of coming to church? What enjoyment do you get out of serving the Lord? The same words that Jesus spoke that day, is what I need to tell you today – “You will only get out of serving the Lord, what you put into it.” If you serve him half-hearted, or begrudgingly, then how can you expect to really enjoy what you do for Christ? If you put your whole heart into it, then you will find that serving the Lord is the greatest joy of your life and coming to church will be a wonderful experience that you can’t do without.
4) The 4th parable that Jesus gave them referred back to the seed again. We don’t know how God works all the time. His ways of doing things is way beyond our power to understand.
Job 9:10 says that God, "…doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number." I can’t figure God out, can you? Just about the time that I think I know what God will do, or what He is thinking, is when I discover that God isn’t thinking or doing that at all.
I don’t know the measures He takes to save a soul; to reach out into that sin blackened heart, grab hold of it by the power of the Spirit, bring conviction and then draw them to an altar of repentance. I don’t know how he takes a cancer-ridden body, and by the power of his Blood, begins to heal and deliver. I don’t know how God will move in each service when we come together. I can’t figure Him out.
5) The 5th parable that Jesus taught was all about the grain of mustard seed becoming a huge tree where the birds could nest – but it’s real meaning was all about how faith can grow and become stronger so that not only can you have faith for your own needs, but you can have faith to believe God for anything.
Verse 33 of Mark chapter 4, says that Jesus taught them many other parables that are not recorded here. All I can say is that it would have been great to be in the crowd that day to hear Jesus preach. Some of you like the way that I bring messages to you, but I can’t even begin to imagine how powerful it would have been to hear very voice of Almighty God doing the preaching!
Isn’t it great to sit in the church, on your nice pews and comfortable chairs, in an air-conditioned room, dressed in nice clothes, with a growling stomach because it’s getting close to lunch time, and hear the Word of the Lord? It’s a wonderful thing to be in the midst of God’s people, in God’s presence and learn of the Word of God.
After the crowds had dispersed, Jesus spent time alone with His disciples. He didn’t teach them in parables because they were more spiritually minded and could fully understand what He had to say. Jesus took the time to really do some serious teaching for those who were willing to stay long enough to hear it.
Some years ago, I was involved with some folks who were great teachers on how to deal with people and to relate a message to them that they could understand. It was all about building dreams and creating freedom and supporting one another in spite of everything that the world could throw at you. Their main theme was, “Don’t Let Anyone Steal Your Dream!” I had some great teaching from those folks because I was willing to pay the price and stay to very end, so that I could glean everything possible from what they had to say.
Sadly, most of the people that I brought to these sessions with me, never got out of the teaching what I did. I’m also sure that I missed out on some really good stuff some of the time, simply because the spirit was willing but the flesh was weak and I would give in to my desire for rest.
I would always stay for the “meeting after the meeting”. During the normal teaching sessions the teaching was pretty generic. It was designed so that it would instruct the largest number of people as possible with the basics of how to have good relationships and build dreams. But in the meeting after the meeting, it would get far more specific. It would get down to where the rubber meets the road, and I would learn things that were just for me and no one else.
It takes a deeper commitment to the Lord, and a closer walk with Him; it takes staying longer than the rest, doing more than most and a hunger for more even when the service is over, for us to really know what Jesus wants in us personally. God speaks in the crowd at church. He speaks through the messages I give to you. But He will speak directly to you if you will have a meeting with Him after this meeting is over!
But no matter how much we want to stay around the Lord and learn His Word, there always comes a time when we have to leave the presence of God in this setting and go out into the world once again. We are encouraged and strengthened by one another as we are gathered together each week, but that’s not where faith grows is it? Faith grows in the tribulations, the tests, the trials and the everyday walk of life.
There’s a world out there that needs Jesus. There’s a family out there that must be provided for. There is work that must be done. We are not called to just sit and soak up the blessings of God, but to “occupy until Jesus comes” by living for Jesus in a world that doesn’t want to know about Him at all.
That’s when the next part of Mark chapter 4 comes into play.
Mark 4:35, "And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side."
The time had come for the meeting after the meeting to be over. The day was nearly done and it was time to go on with life. The disciples didn’t know it, but Jesus was getting ready for the greatest lesson of the day, and it would come in a way that the disciples would never forget as long as they lived. They didn’t understand it yet, but there was soon to be a meeting, after the meeting, after the meeting, where only those who knew Jesus in the most intimate manner would learn of His great love and power.
If you’re going to know Jesus in the greatest possible way, you have to go over to the other side. If you stay here, you will know His Word, you will even be able to get close to Him and hear Him speak to you, but if you want to really know Him in the power of His might, in the fellowship of His sufferings and in the glory of His majesty, you have to go on over to the other side.
The other side of what, you might ask? You have to get to other side of the storms, the other side of the doubts, the fear and out of your comfort zone. You have to launch out into the deep, step out into water and get out there where the waves and wind can knock you around and test your faith to the max, because it’s only in those circumstances that you can really know the love, and the power of God in its fullest measure.
Mark 4:36-41, "And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
On the other side of the sea was the land of the Gadarenes where Jesus and his disciples would come face to face with a legion of demons. Jesus knew what was coming, but His disciples didn’t. Jesus knew that they had heard some great teaching, but they still didn’t understand His power and His identity as the very Son of God. They needed to know Him more.
Getting over to the other side requires some real testing sometimes. Jesus will send us through some storms of life, and He will let our “Spiritual Ship” get battered and nearly swamped with the cares of life and the oppression of the devil. Sometimes it seems that we are full of troubles and just can’t take on anymore without going under for the last time. But that is all part of the journey and it doesn’t bother Jesus at all because He has already said that we are “going to the other side”, and He has no intention of allowing our ship to sink. When he says, “go over to the other side”, then He knows that we will finish the journey and reach the other shore safely.
The thing that I want to point out to you here is that Jesus didn’t just send the disciples into the storm – HE WENT IN WITH THEM! Jesus doesn’t sit back and watch us fight, He is there with us, watching us struggle, while he calmly rests in the knowledge that we can’t fail because His Word has already spoken the victory over every situation.
When you feel like you’re going down – Jesus is resting because He knows you aren’t going down at all.
When you feel like you have reached the end of your rope – Jesus is lying in rest, right in the deepest part of your trouble, because He knows that you have more rope than you think you have.
When your life is being flooded with troubles, and the waves and wind are kicking you around – Jesus is resting in the recesses of your heart because He knows you will win in the end.
At the right moment, when it will make the greatest impact upon your faith, Jesus calmly steps forward and rebukes the storm. Suddenly the peace that passes all understanding floods your soul, the troubles pass on for a while and you face a time of refreshing.
That’s when you really know the power of God! That’s when you develop your greatest reverence and fear of God – when you finally realize that HE DOES HAVE ALL POWER IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH, INCLUDING THE POWER TO DELIVER YOUR SOUL FROM HELL AND GIVE YOU ETERNAL LIFE AND VICTORY OVER EVERY TRIAL.
Maybe you’re passing over to the other side right now. Have you faced some hard storms recently? Is your spiritual ship being battered right now?
Jesus is with you. He is just waiting for the right moment, and then He will step forth and speak victory. The winds of life and the rain of troubles have to obey Him. When Jesus speaks, every man must hear and obey. You will go over to the other side and you will see peace and victory once again. Jesus is just giving you a greater lesson than you’ve ever had before, so you can know Him and trust Him, more than ever before.
