The Theology of Sleep

The wonder of the gospel is this. You sow the gospel and you go to sleep. And it grows. We have no control over that. We don't know how that happens.

any more than the farmer knows how that seed which is dead or dormant In the ground produces abundant life. Welcome to Race to You, featuring the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson, and the series we are continuing today We designed so that you can meet some of our longtime staff members because each message in this series. Was chosen by one of our staffers. We call this series John MacArthur's Most Memorable Sermon.

And today I have Bill Fickett with me in the studio. Good to have you here, Bill. Thanks. It's great to be here with you, Phil. Bill is one of our longest-serving employees.

You've been here as long as I can remember. How many years have you worked at Grace Team? He's coming up on 38. And Bill is our chief information officer.

So he oversees our IT operations as well as customer service and facilities. And he picked the message that we're going to be hearing in a couple of minutes. The title is compelling. It's called The Theology of Sleep.

So, Bill, talk about this message. Why did you choose this as your favorite of John MacArthur's sermons?

Well for me it really touched the point of evangelism and what our responsibilities are. And you know a lot of people say, oh well if you're Reformed you really don't care about evangelism. But the fact is we do care about evangelism. It's important to tell people the gospel. But the thing to remember is, it's not our cleverness in how we tell people.

We're not trying to persuade people. We just need to deliver the gospel, and the rest is up to the Spirit. It says that in the message, John tells us that. He gave the gospel. He sowed the seed.

And then he went to sleep. Right. I remember this sermon. I think John preached it at least twice. The first time I think was at a T4G conference several years ago.

I think that's right, yeah. And so let's hear what John MacArthur had to say about the theology of sleep. That's the lesson Grace TU staff member Bill Fickett chose as being John MacArthur's most memorable sermon. I want you to take your Bible and open it to the fourth chapter of Mark. Talk about what I've called the theology of sleep.

And while you're doing that, I just want to let you know that I sleep very well. Just Generally. Wherever I am in the world, it seems I I sleep. I think that the ability that I have to sleep to some degree is related to my theology. That's kind of where that title comes from.

If I believed that The salvation of souls depended on Me. I don't know that I could sleep well. I understand the horrors of eternal hell. I understand the. Wrath of God, I understand.

Eternal judgment. Understand what's at stake. It's a passion for me to Reach people with the gospel. And I suppose with that kind of conviction dominating my heart, Under some circumstances and within the framework of some kinds of theology, I might have a hard time sleeping because of the urgency of the issues at hand. But My confidence is in the Lord.

And in his power. And not in me.

So I can enjoy Rest. Refreshment physically. Occasionally diversion from the task. Because I don't do the Lord's work. My Responsibilities are very limited.

Recently somebody wrote about me. This is a quote. MacArthur can't reach the people that the missional Christian movement reaches.

So If he and his followers are successful in delegitimizing it, The individuals who would never join the faith would hopefully be only in the tens of millions over the next century. End quote.

So The suggestion of that Fellow is that My delegitimizing the contemporary cultural adjustments of the gospel is going to result potentially in tens of millions of people going to hell. The next paragraph said this But MacArthur is reformed.

So essentially, he can be as ineffectual as he wants. In outreach, since his works have no part in people being saved anyway. How many souls should be lost. to such an unwillingness to be missional. End quote.

That's a spin on me I really hadn't read before. But somehow My reformed theology makes me responsible for tens of millions of people ending up in hell. But that is the sort of I guess you could say neo-Phineist Pelagianism. That motivates So many people in evangelicalism who think that the success of the gospel is dependent upon their persuasive powers and their ingenuity. That kind of thinking inevitably ends up adjusting the gospel.

I promise you that if I felt for one minute that anybody was going to go to hell because somehow I failed to make the necessary adjustments in the message to persuade them to believe, I would have a very hard time sleeping. That's a pretty heavy burden to bear. But I don't think we own that kind of attitude. I believe that all of us who are here are here because we are not motivated by the emotional rhetoric of bad theology. But we're motivated by the Word of God.

We're motivated by Scripture. I want us to look at the fourth chapter of Mark because it It is kind of a magna carta from our Lord on the issue of evangelism. This text is largely paralleled in the 13th chapter of Matthew and the 8th chapter of Luke. At the beginning of the chapter, just by way of a brief introduction, tells us that the Lord began to teach again by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to him that he got into a boat in the sea and sat down, and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land, and he was teaching them many things in parables.

This is a daily scenario for Jesus during the year plus of his Galilean ministry. Massive crowds. The crowds that were so crushing That on numerous occasions, the Lord and his apostles couldn't even make it to a meal. It couldn't shake the people long enough. to get food.

The crowds numbered in the tens of thousands. The feeding of the 5,000 men plus women and children would be a crowd of at least 20 to 25,000 people, not an uncommon crowd. Crushing, pressing against him so that frequently had to get in a boat, go offshore into the water just to put some space between himself. and the crowd. They were attracted by his power over demons, disease, and death.

There never was a denial of his miracle Working. Power. No one ever denied that, not the highest leaders of Israel. Never try to explain away the miracles. They were just...

too massive, too constant. too far-reaching. But as large as the crowd was and as Fascinated by the miracles that our Lord did as they were, There were very few of them who were true believers. In fact, there were so few of them that later on. 13th chapter of Luke records that one of his disciples said to him, Are there only a few who are being saved?

The whole enterprise didn't really look like it was going the way they expected it to go. And they had a right to some expectation. Assuming that um Some of the followers of Jesus were familiar with the Old Testament, which we know they were. They would have understood that in the ninth chapter of Isaiah, There is a promise about the coming of Messiah. That his His reign and the extent of his government would have no end.

That he would come as a dominating power and presence in the world. And they may have well known Isaiah 45. From verse 22 on in that A great chapter. which celebrates the singular glory of God. That there is coming a day when not only will God bring salvation to the nation Israel, but to the world.

Or, if they were familiar with the 60th chapter of Isaiah, it would be the same thing. The coming of Messiah was always connected with national salvation and international impact. But our Lord has been at this now for a while. There may be a little more than a year away from the cross.

So he's been at this. virtually for two years. And while there is a superficial fascination on the part of people, There just are not many real followers. True believers. What is wrong?

Why is it this way? Where is the national repentance? Where is the national redemption? Where is the fulfillment of the. The Gentiles and the nations coming.

to Israel and coming. To the God of Israel. What's the problem?

Well the flash Would respond by saying we need a different strategy. This one is not really working. That's how flesh always responds. To evangelistic disappointment, to low numbers. It's still that way even today.

The response might Be something like this.

Well, it's got to be our fault. We're not doing this the right way. We're out of touch somehow with the felt needs of the people. That's hard to sell since Jesus had virtually banished illness from Israel for the duration of his ministry, dispossessed people of indwelling demons, and stopped funeral processions dead in their tracks. By raising the dead person to life.

But nonetheless, somehow the fault must be ours. Maybe there are other ways to do this. Maybe we're out of touch with the trends or the sensitivities or the style or the psychology of our time. Maybe we've got to find another way. Maybe we need to recognize that people are motivated psychologically, they're motivated materially, they're motivated emotionally, as we heard last night.

They're motivated intellectually. It's that kind of thinking, that kind of fleshly thinking, that essentially is behind all evangelical adjustments. in the gospel. That somehow we've got to overcome the sinner's resistance. And we do that by creating a message that the sinner doesn't resist as much, packaged in a style that is familiar to the sinner.

with which he is somewhat comfortable. And by the way, the message needs to be both friendly and It helps if it's also funny.

So, the church has always suffered from a sort of parade of entrepreneurial types who offer to change the results by changing the message. And I think that That must have been at least in the back of the minds of the disciples. Are we really going about this the right way? When does all this messianic fulfillment come to pass?

So here we are, a year before the Great Commission. And the Lord gives us really a whole chapter here on evangelistic instruction. It's foundational, I think, to our understanding of biblical evangelism. It's comprehensive. It's detailed.

It is um critical for us. to understand what's in this. Chapter I want to begin by having you look at Verses 26. It's 29. And it is from this portion of the chapter that I have drawn the title.

Our Lord gives a series of parables here. This one. Only in Mark. The others appear in Matthew and Luke, this one only in Mark. Verse 26, he was saying.

The kingdom of God Is like a man who casts seed upon the soil. And he goes to bed at night. and gets up by day. And the seed sprouts and grows. how he himself does not know.

The soil produces crops. by itself. First, the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle. Because the harvest has come.

Our Lord spoke about the kingdom of God, and by that he meant the spirit of salvation over which he reigns. The domain of his lordship. Over believers. What is it like? It's like seed that sprouts and grows.

And the farmer does not know How? It happens. And he's the expert, by the way. He's the agricultural Expert. The wonder of the gospel is this.

You sow the gospel and you go to sleep. And it grows. We have no control over that. We don't know how that happens. Any more than the farmer knows how that seed, which is dead or dormant, In the ground, produces abundant life.

The most erudite botanist and biologist and agriculturist cannot explain the forces of life. The only human act our Lord is saying is to sow and go to sleep. While the crop mysteriously grows, All the work of forces completely separated from the farmer. Even the best farmer This is the language of the Apostle Paul.

Some sow, some water. And God does what? Gives the increase. This is uh also bound up. In those very familiar Uh words in the Gospel of John.

But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on his name who were born. not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor is the wool of man. But of God. Spiritual birth, spiritual life. Seed that grows is a divine miracle.

In John chapter 3, and I want you to look at that for a minute, there is that very, very familiar conversation between Jesus and One of the leading rulers of the Jews, Nicodemus. And it's a fascinating discussion, and I think we've got to give Nicodemus a lot of credit. He understands speaking in metaphors. The Jews did it all the time. He knows exactly that our Lord is talking about spiritual issues, not physical issues.

He comes to Jesus by night. Says, you know, you've come from God as a teacher. That's evident because nobody can do the signs that you do unless God is with him. That's what he says, but Jesus penetrates behind what he says to what he's thinking. And said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he can't see the kingdom of God.

What Nicodemus really wanted to know was: how do you enter the kingdom of God? And Jesus said, you have to be born again. You have to be born again. It it calls for Regeneration calls for New birth, that is to say, it's something beyond you. You didn't contribute to your own birth, and you're not really the contributing factor to your new birth either.

And Nicodemus gets it in verse 4. He said to him, How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? He's talking in metaphoric language. I can't do that.

I'm not in charge of my birth. I can't be in charge of my rebirth. How does that happen? Jesus further expands on it by saying you must be born not only of water physically. but of water and the Spirit.

Borrowing language from Ezekiel. New covenant. language And This is what is so amazing. In verse 7, don't be amazed that I said to you, you must be born again. And then this.

The wind blows where it wishes. And you hear the sound of it. But do not know where it comes from. and where it's going.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus saying, how can I be born again? How can I be regenerated? What do I do? Jesus doesn't say to him.

Here's four steps. Here's three steps. Pray this prayer. He says to him, That's really Beyond your power. The wind blows where it wishes.

You hear the sound of it? You don't know where it comes from. You don't know where it's going.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. It's a divine work. It's a divine miracle. The seed grows, the farmer hasn't got an idea. how it happens.

He's not in charge of the power, he's not in charge of the energy. The Spirit does his work. The Spirit blows in like a wind, transforming, regenerating a heart. This is a divine. Work.

Even our Lord completely understands that. and confirms it. I want to show you an illustration of this. as we think about it. Over in the uh Closing section in the Gospel of Luke.

There's a very familiar And wonderful. Account of the thief on the cross, Luke 23 verse 39. One of the criminals who were hanged there. was hurling abuse at him. Saying, are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us. This is sheer sarcasm. This is mockery. This is scorn. But you know what, from a human viewpoint, It seems reasonable.

Because the fact of the matter is Jesus, who has claimed to be from God. who has claimed to be the Messiah. And others have certainly said that about him. is hanging On a cross On four great wounds inflicted on him by the will of the Jewish leaders and people, and by the very act of. Pagan Gentile Romans.

He is the ultimate victim because crucifixion was reserved for the rankest of. criminals the basis of people There is nothing convincing about his current position and posture to make anybody think other than this man is a fake. Sarcasm is reasonable. Are you kidding? You're supposed to be the Messiah.

The thief, we assume, is a Jew. Perhaps raised in a synagogue, knows all the prophecies regarding Messiah, about national conversion, about international influence. This is the Messiah? Certainly, if the crucifixion of Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews and he's a Jew, it's a stumbling block to him. Here is Jesus in his weakest hour A victim For all intents and purposes from the human viewpoint.

And the response of the thief is a very, very reasonable response. You're a joke. But the other answer. and rebuking him. Said, do you not even fear God?

Since you're under the same sentence of condemnation, That's an interesting perspective. Where did that come from? This is a thief. This is a criminal. criminal worthy of execution.

And then his theology starts to come out. We indeed are suffering justly. We're receiving what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. And he affirms the sinlessness of Christ. Wow.

Now understand that Jesus is half virtually naked, hanging on a cross. Being scorned, mocked, ridiculed. Not impressive. But this man The other thief says, He's sinless. He understood the sinlessness of Christ.

Then he says, Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom. He understood the sovereignty of Christ. That he was a king. He understood the saviorhood of Christ. That he could remember him and thus bring him into his kingdom.

He even understood the second coming of Christ when you come in your kingdom. That is a very sound theology. It's really stunning. And he said to him, Truly, I say to you, today you'll be with me in paradise. What happened to that thief?

The only explanation for faith At that moment on the cross, In the life of that thief. was the power of God on his soul. You think somehow that your cleverness is the.

source of someone's conversion? The Lord Jesus said it's Weakest, most vulnerable. looking totally defeated. Hanging on that cross. And beside him The Spirit of God.

Brings. Life to a dead heart. Light. to a blinded soul. and clear faith.

and understanding bursts forth. Salvation comes. And the very same day, That thief is in paradise with Christ. There is no human explanation for that. In my mind, that is the greatest conversion moment in the New Testament.

Look, the parable says Sow the seed. And go to sleep. Because you're not in charge. of the results. Go back then to Mark for a minute.

And we're we're just gonna kind of Further art Little Bible study here in Mark 4. Just a note of a Greek term that I think you'll find interesting. The kingdom of God is like a man, verse 26, who casts seed upon the soil. Goes to bed at night, gets up. By day Seed sprouts and grows, how he himself doesn't know, then this.

The soil produces crops By itself. See that little phrase by itself? The Greek is atamate. Automatically. From Automatas.

Automatically. That word is only used one other place in the New Testament. It's in the 12th chapter of Acts, in the 10th verse, where when Peter was released from his chains, the gate to the prison opened. Automatically. God opened the gate.

And the crop grows. Automatic. That's divine atamate.

Soil produces crops by itself. First the blade comes. Then the head comes, then the mature grain in the head. And all the farmer Can do. is wait until It's fully grown and then he can harvest it.

We may be the means, but we are not the power. Do we understand that? We may be the secondary agency, but we are not the causing. Agency. We have no role but to sow the seed and go to sleep and let the work of God be done, and it will be done in the most amazing ways.

Some people have uh Taking this parable and said it depicts Jesus as the farmer. Coming back to judge. No. Let me just say that That doesn't work. because this farmer goes to sleep.

And judgment is the product of omniscience, not Sleep. This is not. Jesus in judgment, the farmer has been Sleeping, divine omniscience never sleeps, particularly with regard to the record of sin. It leads to judgment.

So, the simple principle is: sow and sleep. The success of the gospel does not depend on your power, on your manipulation, on your entrepreneurial skills. Spiritual life and regeneration is divinely automatic. You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Our current study pulls together messages by John that our staff selected as their favorites.

It's titled John MacArthur's Most Memorable Sermon.

Well, friend, with Christmas coming ever closer, I'd like to suggest some gifts that can make a life-changing spiritual impact long past Christmas Day. The first is the MacArthur Study Bible. It features 25,000 detailed notes that bring clarity to virtually every passage from Genesis to Revelation by explaining the background, the culture, the geography, the language that's missed on a casual reading. And another resource that is also great for the Christmas season is John's book called One Perfect Life. It weaves together everything the Bible says about the Lord Jesus Christ and his earthly ministry in a complete chronological narrative, and it includes select notes from the MacArthur Study Bible to add clarity to what you're reading.

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Now for the entire Grace to U staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Watch Grace TU Television this Sunday on DirecTV Channel 378. And be back next week as we continue our study called John MacArthur's Most Memorable Sermon. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time. On Mondays, grace to you.