"He 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, and was saying to them in His teaching, "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven."
And He *said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my honor and great privilege to study God's Word with you today. We are so thankful that the Lord lead you join us. I want to let you know how grateful I am for each of you, for your faithfulness, dedication and commitment to share God's Word with others. People all around the world are desperate for the Word of God. It's a tremendous blessing, but it's a blessing that brings a huge challenge. With more people coming to Christ, pastors and church leaders are asking for more Bibles in their native languages. I hope you will prayerfully consider helping us to make a difference by meeting their need.
We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my honor and great privilege to study God's Word with you today. We are so thankful that the Lord lead you join us. I want to let you know how grateful I am for each of you, for your faithfulness, dedication and commitment to share God's Word with others. People all around the world are desperate for the Word of God. It's a tremendous blessing, but it's a blessing that brings a huge challenge. With more people coming to Christ, pastors and church leaders are asking for more Bibles in their native languages. I hope you will prayerfully consider helping us to make a difference by meeting their need.
When I was growing up, my great grandparents had a large farm they would spend hours and hours, using horse-drawn plows preparing the soil for sowing seed. Then, they would use horse-drawn planters and a few plant crops by hand. I remember when my great grandfather finally got a tractor and he would take me with him as he got the fields ready to plant. Farming has certainly changed over the years. Today, tractors are guided by
GPS systems with sub-inch accuracy to ensure that no section of soil is missed and no rows are overlapped. Seeds are inserted into prepared
soil with precision, along with a scientifically measured injection of insecticide to combat root-worm.
Today, as we come to God's Word, we're going to embark on a new chapter, Mark chapter 4 and we'll be looking at a very familiar parable known as the parable of the soils. So, let's roll up our spiritual sleeves and dig into God's Word.
First, let's pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, as always we thank Your for Your Word, so rich in Truth. Thank You for bringing us all together and for granting us this opportunity to read and study, to discover the deeper meaning and apply it to our lives. Lord, we pray it bring us to the place of confession, repentance, and a renewed commitment to our obedience to You. May Your Spirit speak to the hearts of those who have yet to believe the Truth, those who have rejected Christ, we ask that You would cause them to come to Him in confession and repentance, turning from their sin and accept His invitation for salvation. In Jesus' name we ask and pray this for Your glory and for Christ's sake.
Amen
Today's Message: Parable of the Soils
Open your Bibles to Mark chapter 4, verses 1-20
and follow along with me as I read these verses to you to
set the text in our minds. I pray that the Lord would help us to hear
and apply what He has to say to each of us today. Mark 4:1-20.
"He 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, and was saying to them in His teaching, "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven."
And He *said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These
are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when
they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has
been sown in them. In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but
the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the
desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes
unfruitful. And
those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they
hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a
hundredfold."
Let's look at verse 1, "He 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." I love that He used different methods of teaching without ever changing the message, sometimes He taught in the synagogues and He also taught on the hillside and by the sea. We must be willing to do the same, we can start with those closest to us and take the gospel with us wherever we go. We’re here to proclaim the Gospel, making disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that He commanded. The Church isn't called to proclaim a corrupted gospel, wearing rainbow T-shirts, twirling down the streets to disco music. While that may increase church attendance and fill the collection plate, it certainly doesn't have the power to save anybody. The problem isn't the message or the messenger, the issue is the condition of heart. The Gospel is limited to those who have the ears to hear. The Truth is not for everyone, that's why Jesus spoke in parables. When God has prepared the heart, the results are staggering.
Now let's go back to verse 1, now Jesus is teaching outside and the crowd was so massive, He needed to get in a boat in order to keep from being crushed. It’s been estimated that upwards of 10,000 people could fit on the hillside. He got into a boat, so they could see and hear Him clearly. Jesus didn’t always speak to the crowd in parables, this is a judgment. Because He spoke the Truth clearly and plainly, they rejected Him. That's
not popular theology today, but when your rejection has gone too far,
and you harden your heart, God prevents you from understanding and
believing the Truth and being forgiven. The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s
heart, when he didn't listen didn't He? A parable is a pronunciation of judgment, this is a significant turning point in our Lord's ministry.
Verse 2, "And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching" Now He's teaching them in a way they can’t understand because they had rejected the Truth when they could understand. Parables are designed to be unforgettable but without explanation their true meaning is hidden; they can only be understood by those who are serious about learning the Truth. Psalm 78 says "A stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God." I love how Jesus taught publicly, but only explained what He meant privately. I believe that’s a good reminder for us today, that Jesus said in Matthew 7:6, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." In other words, we can only receive what we’re receptive to. Only those with receptive hearts will receive what God wants to reveal. Fortunately, we don’t have to guess about the meaning of this message
because Jesus reveals gives a clear interpretation to His disciples, but our hearts must be receptive to understanding the revealed Truth. If your heart is not open, you won’t be able to comprehend His teaching, you'll reject it.
Verses 3 -8a, "Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased " So, that's the parable, Jesus is telling us here the issue is not the sower, and it’s not the seed; it’s the soil. Unfortunately, many church leaders today don’t want to address the issue, they don't want to talk about how sin separates from God. The Gospel must be received by a prepared heart in order to achieve its intended purpose. Conviction, however unpleasant, is necessary to overcome the sinner’s resistance.
In Galilee, there were fields as far as the eye could see, so everybody knew about hard ground, and rocky ground, and weedy ground, and good ground. A farmer would have a leather pouch across his shoulders filled with seed and would walk down paths slinging the seed out, they would have all understood that the goal was to get his good seed into good soil so it would grow. They would have also understood that not every seed sown was going to be productive, because it was dependent on the condition of the soil.
When proclaiming the Gospel, you're going to encounter all kinds of people, some will reject it immediately because their hearts are hardened, others may respond superficially, making a temporary commitment, but when the rubber meets the road, they disappear. Then you'll encounter those who respond to the message but it doesn't change the way they live, they never let go of their sin, and the things of the world. In short, Satan is doing all he can to hinder their spiritual growth. And, as soon as Satan comes along whispering in their ear, they blindly follow him. Like it or not, if you claim to be a Christian your are being watched, your behavior is being analyzed and scrutinized by the unregenerate world to see if it matches your profession.
That's why Peter tells us in 1Peter 2:12 to "Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation." From the moment of salvation, as Christians, we represent Christ in the world, therefore, our behavior before a watching world is very important. Sadly, the strongest argument against Christianity is most often the behavior of Christians!
Verse 8b, "They yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." Now, Jesus says something that they had never experienced. A hundredfold would be a massive harvest, that's unheard of. While salvation is the divine work of God, it cannot occur apart from preaching the full message of the Gospel. If we understand what Jesus is saying, then we ought to understand what He wants us to do and how we are to be doing it. The Gospel is the seed and we ought to be sowing it as much as we can, believing the Holy Spirit will prepare the hearts of the hearer and trusting God for the increase. When you go and sow, the Kingdom of God will grow.
Paul writes in Romans 10, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!" We're not privileged to know the condition of anybody's heart but the hearer should never impact the message, even if it’s rejected; "Christ crucified and Christ risen. Repent and believe!" We must continue planting the seed, even though the results many not be seen for sometime. Anything less will result in false conversions, I believe there's a great many of superficial Christians in the church today. Scripture knows nothing of decisional regeneration, "Making a decision to accept Christ." When people hear the message that is being preached today, they become very emotional. A shallow gospel presentation can only lead to a hollow response! Jesus never made an emotional appeal, in fact, He told them to count the cost.
Verse 9, "And He was saying, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." The mark of true salvation is humble, brokenhearted repentance followed by desire to hear and a willingness to obey God’s Word. If you are a Christ follower today, don’t pat yourself on the back, you had nothing to do with the condition of your heart. Your heart was divinely prepared by God and you simply responded. John 6:65, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." There has to be divine preparation, that why some people respond and others do not. You and I can’t control that, not everyone is going to have the same spiritual impact, that’s the point of the thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold. Our role is to continually proclaim the Gospel.
Verses 10-11, "As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. And He was saying to them, "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables." For centuries Israel had awaited the Messiah, when He arrived not only did they reject their Messiah, and His Kingdom, it affected their ability to see, hear and understand spiritual truth. That's the purpose of parables, to either make truth clearer or make it even more unclear. Approximately 700 years earlier, Isaiah announced the judgment of God on the nation of Israel for its unbelief. That
judgment would take the form of judicial hardening, they would hear but
not understand, therefore the message would only harden their resistance to God. The prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled. All
those who did not believe got was unexplained parables, which were
little more than riddles. To them, the mysteries will not be revealed. Even though the His disciples didn't understand everything, they wanted to learn, so they asked. In other words, those who accept God’s Truth will get more illumination, those who reject it are left without an explanation. Certainly, this is just as true today as it was then. Again, it's the condition of the heart of the hearer!
In verse 12, "So that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven." This is a profound statement of judgment. Because they repeatedly rejected the Truth, they will keep descending deeper and
deeper into spiritual darkness to the point they can't be forgiven. In other words, God confirms men in their own rejection of the Truth, when the doctrine they ascribe to contradicts everything God says.
Verse 13, "And He *said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?" Of course they didn't understand, the parable needed to be explained. I believe this speaks to the church today, even though they sit in church hearing God's Word, they cannot understand it's true meaning, because they have repeatedly rejected the Truth, they're sinking deeper and deeper darkness and unbelief. We've seen the conceal, now let's look at the reveal.
Verse 14, "The sower sows the word." I'd like you to notice, the sower is only defined as anybody who faithfully proclaims the Word of God. There's no specific qualifications mentioned, if you think it's only the preachers job, you better think again because we're all commanded to do that in the Great Commission. The seed is the Word of God. The issue is not the sower, it's not the seed. The sower has no power, the power is in the true Gospel. I’m amazed by the number of pastors today who don’t seem to make the connection. It's not the style of preaching, it's not their personality or the clothes they wear, that produces results, it's the Gospel. And if it fails to produce results, you don't go tampering with the message, that's not the issue. It's the condition of the heart of the hearer. That's expository preaching is so crucial, the Holy Spirit has to break up the hardened heart, bringing conviction to bear upon the hearer through the faithful preaching of the Word.
Verse 15, "These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them." Notice Jesus says when they hear the Word, since it can't penetrate their hard-heart and take root, it will be immediately stolen by the evil one, rendering it impossible for the Word to take root. If the seed can't grow, it has no impact. That's why the Gospel must be preached over and over, again, and again as we continually pray for hardened hearts to be softened, blind eyes to see and deaf ears to hear. Ultimately, it's up to God, you or I cannot change anybody's heart.
In verses 16-17, "In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away." Because of the condition of the heart, the roots are shallow. The hearer hears the promises of forgiveness of sin, and the hope of heaven but at the first sign of difficulty, they quickly fall away. Joy is not an indication of saving faith. Notice Jesus did not say if affliction or persecution arises, He said when. It's guaranteed, if you faithful serve Christ! That's the problem with the prosperity gospel, it’s not real. Jesus never promised riches and success, and every thing you desire in this life, but He does promise suffering and hardship. John 16:33, "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." Trials will either prove or disprove your faith. James 1 says "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Listen, I thank God that I’ve been through enough trials in my own life to know my faith is real. Never once has it waivered but it has grown stronger and stronger with each trial. I can't take credit for that, it's a divine work of God. John 18:9, "Of those whom You have given Me I lost not one."
Verses 18-19, "And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." When the things of this world occupy the heart, they want salvation but there's unwillingness to deal with their sinfulness. In other words, this heart loves the world more than they love the Lord. In Matthew 6, Jesus said "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other." James 4, says "Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." The kingdom and the world cannot co exist in the life of a believer. The Gospel is clear, if you love the world, you're not fit for the kingdom. Satan's message is that you can have them both.
Jesus said in Luke 9, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." The mark of a true believer is an all consuming love for God, not the world. The condition of your heart determines what your heart desires. True conversion is turning away from self and turning toward God, anything less is counterfeit. It's such a travesty that the contemporary church has lowered the standards, not just in terms of the Gospel presentation, but salvation as a whole, professing to be Christians while refusing to submit themselves to Christ's authority. Self-will is dangerous, because God resists the proud, so there's no possibility of reconciliation with God.
1 John 2:15-16, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."
That brings us to verse 20, "And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold." These are the people who respond the right way, they recognize their sinful condition and they're need for repentance. They're willing to humble themselves before God, because they long for forgiveness and true salvation. When the hardened places have been broken up, the rocks and weeds have been removed, there’s going to be fruit. Romans 1:16 says "For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Therefore, we must unashamedly sow the seed of God’s Word into unsaved hearts and when the conditions are right, God will take over from there. When the seed of the Gospel is planted into a humble heart, exponential growth will happen!
John 15, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." There’s no such thing as a fruitless Christian. The harvest is sure but not all believers will bear the same amount of fruit. God knows the soil that is going to produce, the key is to keep sowing and don't get discouraged, only a small percentage of what is planted actually grows to maturity. We must continuously pray, asking God to prepare the soil of sinful hearts.
It's important to understand, that's not the natural condition of a man's heart. Jeremiah 17:9
says "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?" Nobody can do that on his own, only God alone can prepare a heart like that, and the results are supernatural. A truly penitent sinner no longer wants what their corrupted flesh wants, in fact, they hate their old sinful life. It's inevitable because the Holy Spirit indwells in them. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 "for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial?"
In Closing..
I've experienced many superficial Christians who have rejected the Truth, simply because they love their sin too much. If there’s ever going to be any hope for these people, God's going to have to do the work, I cannot change anybody's heart. The Lord knows if I could, I would. But I can pray, asking Him to prepare their hardened hearts.
Ultimately, this parable must become personal, as long as we keep sowing, we can be assured the Gospel is taking root somewhere!
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen