Message for THE LORD'S DAY MORNING, May 27, 2018 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Message 17 in Making A Difference Sermon Series from the Gospel of Mark The Parable of The Sower Mark 4:1-20 (NKJV) When we began this series of messages from Mark's Gospel back in January, I told you that Mark's gospel is very fast-paced. Whereas the other three gospels contain a lot of Jesus' teachings, Mark's gospel focuses more attention on Jesus' miracles. I told you back then that Mark's gospel contains just eighteen of Jesus' forty-six parables. Everything up to this point in our study has been very fast-paced.' *Jesus has been preaching and teaching the good news of the kingdom in synagogues all over Galilee. * He has been healing the sick, and the diseased, and the handicapped. * He has been driving out demons. * He started out with just four followers. Now He has multitudes of hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people following Him everywhere He goes. * He has spent a night in prayer before choosing the twelve men who would be His apostles. * And while all of this has been going on He is being hounded by the scribes and Pharisees at every turn. They despise Him. They want to shut down His ministry. In fact, they are already plotting to kill Him. It has been non-stop A-C-T-I-O-N up to this point. But now as we come to this fourth chapter Mark hits the pause button and the action stops, at least momentarily. For the better part of this fourth chapter Mark shifts our attention to several parables that Jesus taught. In today's message we are going to be looking at one of Jesus' most familiar parables and that is The Parable of The Sower...sometimes called, The Parable of The Soils.
Our scripture text can be broken down into these two simple points: In verses 1-9 JESUS TELLS THE PARABLE In verses 10-20 JESUS EXPLAINS THE PARABLE. First of all... I. Jesus TELLS The Parable (vs. 1-9) MARK 4:1-9 (NKJV) 1 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: 3 Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. 9 And He said to them, He who has ears to hear, let him hear! 1. The setting of this parable is one that everybody there that day could easily relate to; and so can all of us who live in a rural farming community. In Jesus' time, Israel was a predominantly agricultural country; in other words people made their living off the land. Most men were either shepherds or farmers. In all likelihood, most everyone in that multitude that day either was a farmer...or was related to a farmer...or had neighbors who were farmers.
2. And so the picture Jesus describes in this parable was a very familiar scene the multitude had witnessed many, many times and that is that of a a sower or a farmer going out to his fields to sow his seeds. 3. So Jesus begins His parable with these words... v. 3 Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. Of course we know when you sow seed you don't plant it in nice, straight rows... your broadcast the seed or scatter the seed. Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4. Now everyone in the multitude knew quite well that all of the land in Israel wasn't productive. They would have been very with the four types of soil Jesus is about to describe. THE SOIL BY THE WAYSIDE The first kind of soil Jesus describes is what was known as the wayside. v.4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
The fields in ancient Israel were not fenced in They built walls on the hillsides to create flat ground for their vineyards. These vineyards would form terraces on the hillsides, and then the grain would be planted in the flat lands below the vineyards. Their fields were just narrow strips of land rather than huge fields covering hundreds of acres. And along these narrow strips of land...these narrow fields there were foot paths called the wayside. The wayside was not cultivated. The wayside was dry, hardened, packed-down soil. Seed that fell on the wayside didn't have any more chance of growing than if it had fallen on concrete pavement. When the birds saw the seeds sitting on top of that hardened, packed down foot path, they would swoop down and eat it. THE STONY SOIL Moving on to verses 5,6 Jesus describes the second type of soil... the stony soil. v.5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. v.6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
Those in the multitude understood that when Jesus was talking about stony ground He wasn't talking about soil with a lot of stones and rocks in it. Throughout Israel there are places where the soil is only a few inches deep and underneath the shallow soil there is a layer of bedrock. When seed fell on the stony ground there would be just enough soil and moisture in the ground for the seed to spring up. But because the soil was shallow due to the layer of bedrock underneath, the plants couldn't develop deep roots, and would soon be scorched by the sun and wither away. THE THORNY SOIL Moving on to verse 7 Jesus describes the third type of soil... the thorny soil. v.7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. This soil is deceptive. On the surface it looks like good, clean, fertile soil. But underneath the soil there are old roots ready to spring to life again. If you have ever grown a garden you know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm talking about weeds. Good seed mixed with dormant weeds is not a good combination.
Weeds grow fast; in fact if not tended to each and every day, the weeds will grow faster than the plant, and drink up all the moisture, and shade the sunlight, and the good plant will literally be choked to death by the weeds. THE GOOD SOIL Moving on the verse 8 Jesus tells us about the fourth kind of soil... the good soil.' v. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. Good soil is deep, soft, moist, and fertile. Its not hardened like the soil by the wayside. Its not shallow like the rocky soil. Its not competing with weeds like the thorny soil. It is in this kind of soil the seed finds moisture and nourishment that causes it to grow and produce an abundant harvest. 5. As Jesus concludes His parable He gives His audience this admonition: (v.9) He who has ears, let him hear.' Jesus is simply admonishing His audience to listen to what He has just told them. Many of them won't! A few of them will.
Now as we move on to verses 10-20... II. Jesus EXPLAINS The Parable (vs. 10-20) 1. Before we read these verses let me explain something. There is a time lapse between v. 9 and v.10. In verses 1-9 Jesus has been talking to the whole multitude. But when you come to verse 10 and following the crowd has been dismissed and Jesus is alone with His twelve apostles. 2. These are the ones who truly listened to what Jesus said. They have been reflecting on the parable Jesus told. And so in verse 10 they asked Jesus to explain the meaning of the parable. Before He explains the Parable of The Sower, Jesus explains to them why He is now speaking in parables. 11 And He said to them, To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.
3. Jesus wants His apostles to understand His parables are much more than interesting little stories or illustrations. He wants them to understand He has a two-fold purpose in using parables. One reason Christ used parables was to REVEAL the TRUTH to those who sincerely wanted to know God and be a part of His kingdom. Remember most of the huge multitudes that were following Jesus around were superficial followers... curiosity seekers...who were more interested in having Jesus heal them of physical ailments rather than healing their souls. Jesus is using parables to weed out the superficial, curiosity seekers from the sincere followers. The other reason Christ used parables was to CONCEAL the TRUTH from those who rejected Him, namely the scribes and Pharisees. They were so blinded by their own selfrighteousness they could not grasp the deep truths Jesus taught in His parables. 4. After explaining to the twelve why He was teaching in parables, Jesus now explains to them the deeper meaning of The Parable of The Sower. MARK 4:13-20 (NKJV) 13 And He said to them, Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word.
15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. 5. First, Jesus explains the meaning of the sower and the seed. The seed is the WORD of GOD......so the sower is anyone who sows or broadcasts the word of God. It might be a preacher, or a Sunday School teacher, or a missionary, or the Christian doing one-on-one witnessing with a relative or friend. The sower sows the seed of God's word. 6. What about the four types of soil? The various soils represent the human HEART or the various ways the heart responds to the WORD of GOD. Now don't miss this important truth Jesus is teaching here. Three out of the four soils did not produce good results. The problem was not with the SOWER...the problem was not with the SEED... the problem was with the SOIL. The problem lay within the hearts of those who heard the word of God.
THE SOIL BY THE WAYSIDE In verse 15 Jesus explains the meaning of the soil by the wayside. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. When it comes to hearing and receiving the word of God many people are just plain hard-hearted. They can hear the word of God preached and it never penetrates, it never has an impact on them. They can hear the word of God preached plainly, boldly, and powerfully and it has no effect upon them at all. They are hard-hearted... they flat out reject the word of God. And like a bird, Satan swoops in and grabs up the seed of God's word before it can ever take root. This describes the hard-hearts of the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus' day. THE ROCKY SOIL Moving on to verses 16,17 Jesus explains the meaning of the rocky soil. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word s sake, immediately they stumble.
Some people hear the word of God, and they respond quickly, and for a brief period of time they are on fire for the LORD, but because they don't have deep roots, they soon dry up and wither spiritually. We all know people like this. Think of people you have known over the years who made a sudden, emotional decision to follow Jesus when they or a loved one was going through a health crisis, or when they got into some trouble; or perhaps after they got worked up at a revival meeting. Just like a comet they shine brightly for awhile, but soon burn out. THE THORNY SOIL Moving on to verses 18,19 Jesus explains the meaning of the thorny soil. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. This type of soil represents the person who hears God's word, and in their heart they know God's will for their lives, but inside their heart there is constant competition between the word of God and the weeds of sin and world- liness. And sadly, more often than not, the weeds of world- liness eventually take over and choke out the spiritual life of these individuals.
They start pulling away from the LORD, and pulling away from the Church, and neglecting their prayer life and neglecting the word of God. THE GOOD SOIL Now moving on to verse 20 Jesus explains the meaning of the good soil. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred. The good soil of course represents those who's hearts are FERTILE and RECEPTIVE to the word of God. Hearts that have been made ready to receive the seed of God's word by the Holy Spirit. The good soil represents those who gladly receive the word of God into their hearts and it is evident they are truly following the LORD by the spiritual fruit they bear. C O N C L U S I O N As we bring today's message to a close I want to ask you a soul-searching question: What is the condition of your heart? this morning. You see, this parable is about you and its about me; its about each and everyone of us. Just as the condition of soil can change over the course of time, so can the condition of our hearts.
Perhaps there was a time when your heart was like the good soil. You were growing and thriving spiritually...you were bearing much spiritual fruit. Is that still true? Are you still growing and thriving and fruitful? If not, there's a reason for it. Perhaps your heart has become hardened and resistant towards the word of God like that soil by the wayside. Or maybe like the rocky soil your spiritual fire and passion vanished a long time ago and for many years now you have simply been going through the motions. Or maybe like the thorny soil you truly want to follow the LORD but the weeds of worldliness and sin are choking the spiritual life out of you. The good news is your heart can become like that good soil again. Its not too late. Just ask the LORD to break up the hardness...to stir up the spiritual fire and passion that was once there...and to pull up the weeds of sin and worldliness. Ask the LORD to create within you a new heart...a pure heart...a receptive heart...an obedient heart. And then stand back and watch how GOD makes your life fruitful and productive once again!