Mark 4:1-20 - The Parable of the Sower

It doesn't mean that the person who hears the word and receives.

It is a good. Person This.

Is the work of the sower. Sows the seed, and he plows it

up. He.

Sows the seed, and he plows it up year over year.

Morning, everybody. Wow, it's.

It's different to be up. Here in front of you, because

99% of the time I'm sitting out there and just taking and

preaching and. I kind of finished up with going

through the preaching. Lab stuff, a little over a year.

Ago and then I had all this homework and set before me to

complete and Cole's like, no pressure, just keep going

through it and then. As little Jack was.

Approaching to be born, the pressure was starting to build a

little. Bit Cole's like, hey, where you

at? Have you turned everything in

yet? Are you coming in right?

Because thankfully, what a. Blessing our churches.

To be able to give him a little time away.

But then too, I just want to brag on all of you.

Who have just stepped. Forward and encouraged me this

morning. Thank you so much.

It's just such a. Blessing to be a part of

Frontier Church and I think part of the reason that my wife and

I, when we moved to Des Moines three years ago to be here and

the reason. Why others of you?

Stick around is because it ends up being a place where we really

want to. Be it's we, it's.

It's a. People we want to be with and a

a people we want to be around and.

To get put in this position too. I'm, you know, I'm kind of

frantic this morning rereading through everything.

Oh, I want to plug this in here maybe.

Pull this out. My wife.

Christian just looks at. Me and she goes, no, it's.

Just. It's just really.

Apparent God's grace in your life from from where you were to

where you're at now to be able to preach.

And I'm just extremely grateful to be up here and just thank you

all so much for being here this morning and kind of I felt like

it would maybe be fitting since I kind of went through some

tests to. Start this morning.

Off with a test, right? It's a.

It's a pretty easy one. OK, so by a show of hands, who's

seen a cornfield, right? Right.

OK. Yeah, obviously all of us.

You can't miss one driving into Des Moines, right?

And that's the case. And what we're used to kind of

seeing now is this time of year is it's the corn shooting up,

right? It's growing taller and taller

and it's looking green. Everything's in nice straight

lines, nice straight rows from. Our modern tailors and planters

and then when the harvest comes the combines come up and.

They work the field. All those things.

And So what we're used to kind of seeing is, right, that's

modern day farming that's today. Okay, but in Jesus.

Time. We're going to be in Mark 4

today in Jesus time. All the people.

Hearing him. Give this first parable.

This first little lesson. They didn't live with modern day

farming. They didn't drive out well.

In their case they've been maybe ride a donkey or walk out of

town and see all look at the corn it's in a.

Perfectly straight row for. 4 1/2 miles because the.

G PS:. Directed it to be there.

Right. And so we need to.

Forget that. And put ourselves in the ancient

person's. Shoes, because that's how they

would have heard it. So a little bit about.

Ancient farming. It's different.

So you have the. You have the.

Sewer, right? And the sewer, a lot of times

maybe they would take their oxen and they'd go maybe 2 miles from

where they live at times and. That's actually how light.

Their plow, even, was they could.

Have carried it that far. It was kind of.

It's pretty, it's like a stick. That just kind of goes in the

ground, okay, That's not the John Deere plow.

Of today or 100. Years ago even, it was It was

much more crude than that. And you'd go around and.

Just throw the seed. All over and keep walking,

walking through his field, all over the place, and there'd be

paths going through it. There'd be.

Different spots where there would be some thorns and the

hard soil and the the ancient listener.

To Jesus. They knew all.

About this because it was a part of their everyday life, their

culture in a lot of ways was surrounded by.

This grain farming, right? And so they knew all about.

The good. Soil and the hard soil.

And the thorny soil and the rocky soil, they knew about all

those things. And we have to kind of sit in

that to maybe grasp more of what Jesus is saying because again,

it's hard to imagine what. That that yield like a good.

Year for them was like a tenfold yield and what that means is for

like so every one pound of seed that he would have sown out.

He would have took. Took in only £10, that was like

an amazing year on average was more like 6 or £7.00 to the one

pound, so. Just to kind of put.

That in perspective? Think about that.

As we see. The type.

Of yield Jesus is. Talking about So if you'd all

stand with me as you read God's word, we're going to be in Mark.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

Chapter 4. We're going to go be reading

through versus one through 20, mark four, one through 20 again,

he began to. Teach beside the sea.

And a very. Large crowd gathered about.

Him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea and the

whole. Crowd was beside the.

Sea on the land. And he was teaching them many

things and parables. And in his teaching he just said

to them, listen, just a quick note and listen, it's this.

Cool word. It's a it's a couette.

It means. Literally have hyper hearing.

Don't just let this reverberate in your eardrum and bounce.

Back out, Let it. Come inside you, let it get into

your heart, a Couette, listen. Behold a sower.

Went out to sow, and as he was sow as he sowed, some seed fell

along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil,

and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil

and when the sun. Rose.

It was scorched. And since it had no.

Root it withered away. Other seed fell among the

thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no

grain. And other seeds fell into good

soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding

30 fold and 60 fold and 100 fold and he.

Said he who has ears to hear. Let him hear.

And when he was alone, those around him with the 12 asked him

about the parables, and he said to them to you, has been given

the secret of the Kingdom of God.

But for those outside. Everything is in parables.

So that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed

hear, but not understand, lest they should turn and be

forgiven. And he said to them, Do you not

understand this parable? How, then will you understand?

All the parables, the sower sows.

The word and these are the ones along the path where the word is

sown. When they hear, Satan

immediately comes and takes. Away the word that.

Is sown in them. And these are the ones sewn on

rocky ground. They're ones who when they hear

the word, immediately. Receive it with joy.

And they have no root in themselves, but endure.

It for a while. Then when tribulation or

persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall

away, and other and others are the ones sewn among thorns.

They are those who hear the word but the cares of the world.

And the deceitfulness of riches. And the desires for other things

enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

But those that were. Sown on the good soil are the

ones who. Hear the word.

And accept it, and bear fruit thirtyfold and sixtyfold, and a

hundredfold. He who has ears to hear.

Let him hear. He may be seated.

Thank you. You'll pray with me before we

start and ask for God's help to understand His Word.

Heavenly Father, we are gathered here together.

On a beautiful sunny morning and you invite us in to soak in your

word to have hyper hearing ears. That.

Don't just let it come in and bounce out.

But you would allow. Us to enter it in.

I just pray God this morning that.

Whoever feels like all the. Different things going in life

are taking their attention away from hearing from you.

That you would. Allow them to focus and listen.

Allow me to focus and listen to you.

That no part. Of your word would be able to be

scooped up by the birds to be scooped away by.

Satan so that we may not. Bear fruit, but that.

God, we may bear fruit. I need your help this morning,

Lord, just to humbly be before. You to preach faithfully.

To not have any people pleasing. That you would allow.

Us to look inside. To our hearts.

And seek the one who sews. The word to us.

Amen. All right so so far.

We're going through slowly in the book of Mark and we've seen

Jesus bring God's Kingdom on earth, right?

He's He's healed the lame, sick people are being made, well,

blind can. See Tax Collector.

In the Sinner are redeemed before him, the promise of the

Garden of Eden is being fulfilled.

Jesus is undoing the effects of sin and making all things new

and part of this newness. Comes through as well in his

teaching as he seeks to make people new as well through his

teaching and in. Chapter 4 We're.

Beginning a new section in the book and it's called The

Parables. And usually with parables.

The one point is being made and is if you were to go in and

study Mark. 4 You could see all over the place.

You could grab one point from all the different kind of.

Characters, so or the seed. And the soils you could look

into it. But really?

The main point is that listen, it's that.

Akuate. It's how we listen.

To God undeniably matters. For our lives.

Undeniably matters. And what's different about how?

Jesus shares his parables. Is that he knows not everyone on

that beach would really hear him, you know?

You know what I'm saying? They'd hear him, but they

wouldn't really hear him. It's like when my wife is

talking to me and I hear and I'm nodding.

And then she says, what are you going to the store to get?

And I'm like. You got to text.

Me, right. I didn't hear her.

Yeah, yeah, who? Who knows what?

That's like right. Good for you.

If you're not like that, that's awesome.

And he knew that people would nod their head and the words

would come right through one here and.

Shoot out the other side without.

Kind of coming down and hitting the heart, hitting the inner

man. It's listening without listening

and hearing, without hearing. And his teaching style, he he

knows that this is going on. For others, the.

Hearing wasn't as dull though, and he mentions it, but let's

kind of start in the middle in verses 10 through. 12 I'll just

reread. Them again, and then let's kind

of look at them. And when he was alone, those

around him with the 12. Asked Jesus about the parables.

And he said to them, to you, has been given the secret of the

Kingdom of God. But for those outside.

Everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not

perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they

should turn and be forgiven. So to understand this, it's

important to kind of grab. From the context, that's kind of

around Jesus ministry getting to this point and we kind of see

that in the previous chapters, especially in verse or in

chapter 3, in verses 6 and 22, the situation going on there is

there is direct opposition to Jesus on purpose.

Where the religious leaders. They hold counsel against Jesus

to destroy him and then in verse 22 they are attribulating his

power to being demonic. And it's with this kind of

context and mind that Jesus makes the distinction between

right, he said. There's the insiders.

Who are the disciples? Who?

Have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God, and then the

unbelieving multitude. Where the.

Truth seems concealed the the ones purposely choosing that

harm. But we kind of get that, don't

we? Whenever.

The message of Jesus is. Proclaimed.

There's always kind of two sides.

There's an opposition side and there's a receiving side.

There's always some who accept and some who reject believers

and unbelievers and just like Jesus.

Says he who has ears to hear. Let him hear.

The Bible regularly talks about those who hear.

And those who don't, Not everyone who.

Hears the gospel. Really hears the.

Gospel, and it doesn't sink in. 1st Corinthians 214 says the

natural person does not accept the things of the.

Spirit of God, for they are folly.

To him, and he's not able to understand them.

Because they're spiritually discerned.

Only those who have. Here years to hear.

Will understand the story. Otherwise, otherwise every

aspect. Of it is just alien.

It just doesn't make sense. And he even throws a quote in

from the Old Testament out of. Isaiah 6 and verse 12 where

it's. That they may indeed see, but

not perceive, and may indeed hear, but not understand.

Lest they should. Turn and be forgiven.

And that's from the the. Great story where?

God is going to. Prepare Isaiah the prophet to

go. Proclaim his Kingdom.

To the heart hearted Israel he goes through.

This process of cleansing his mouth and it's just this amazing

scene where God opens up the heavens and.

Isaiah is able to. Just see the foothold.

And he's he can't even talk. He's undone.

He's just laying on the ground and he quotes that as kind of

like a commentary showing. How what God had prophesied

through Isaiah was. Happening now?

That as their hearts. Were getting harder, they'd be.

Less likely to hear. And receive God's word and and

that doesn't mean that those. Who are outside?

Can never enter. But rather.

They just won't receive further instructions until belief.

Occurs. As long as they're alive, they

have an opportunity to repent and believe, because that's why

Jesus came. So the parables themselves are

not meant to blame. For the lack.

Of understanding this listeners. But rather the parables.

Are meant to reveal the condition of the listener's

heart again the. Parables are not to.

Blame for the lack of their understanding.

But rather the parables. Are meant to reveal the

condition. Of the listener's heart, the

parables help sort out. Where everyone is at and there's

kind of different players in this parable.

That we read right. There's the sower and.

There is the seed. And there's.

The soil, So let's. Kind of jump through each one of

those and verse 3. Says Behold the sower.

Went out to sow. And what's?

Cool about this parable. Right.

Is it? We kind of get a glimpse into

Jesus teaching it and then explaining it.

We don't really get that with a lot of other ones, but in SO in

force 1st 14. It says the sower.

So is the word so the sower. Really.

Could be. Anyway, it's me right now.

I'm sowing out God's word. I'm I'm seeking to.

Preach his word. It's.

It's any of you when you're sharing your.

Faith with your. Friends, it's anytime there's a

proclamation of. Of God's Word, but really at

the. At the more deep level.

In this text. Like at the at the base of it,

the sower is Jesus. And as the sower, he's seeking

to spread. Out.

The seed of his Kingdom to come the good news.

That he's here to. Redeem God's people and he's

seeking. To spread the seeds of his.

Salvation bringing in God's Kingdom.

And through it. He reveals.

Four different kinds of hearts, 4 different kinds of people who

may or may not bring in His word as as he's sewing it.

The first one. The first heart is like the

seeds. Along the path.

Verse 4. And 15.

Respectively so as he. As he sewed, some seed fell

along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

And these are the ones along the path where the word is sown.

When they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes.

Away the word. That is sown in them.

So these people are. Along the hardened path, it's a

picture of someone who's. Close to the world with a lot of

worldly traffic. Inside, it's meant to show a

heart that has been hardened. By by worldly traffic, all of

the. Stomping on right It's a path.

People are walking along it. It gets harder and harder.

The more the world tramples on it and steps.

Through it. And some of us have too much

traffic in the world and it makes it extremely hard.

For the seed of life, the word. Of God to penetrate our heart

since it's so. Hard, it says the birds.

Come and devoured it, and it's meant to represent how.

Easy it is. For Satan to take the word.

Away. Like if you if you go online and

you read about taking a tour. Through Galilee like they.

Even mentioned like, oh come and sit along where he's done.

You just can't help but. See all the birds.

That come around and especially along the path and they they're

just all over the place eating the seed as they're still sowing

to this day in that area and and and in this case you may even

listen to the word but it never enters in as there might not be

an opening. For it because of your hard

heart. So the the.

Filters. Put up to not believe, Just

shoot the word down. Of course if.

This is the case. Life doesn't grow here on the

hard ground. Because this the word the seed.

It can't penetrate. Through the word.

Cannot penetrate through. To our hard heart.

It just bounces right off and then the second seed.

Is. The seed on the rocky soil.

And verse five and six it says. Other seed.

Fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil and

immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil and when

the sun. Rose.

It was scorched. And since it had no.

It weathered away. These are the ones sewn on rocky

ground, the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately

receive it with. Joy.

And they have no written themselves, but endure for a

while. Then, when tribulation or

persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall

away. So this is supposed to be like

the seed. Is kind of on like the topsoil

up here and it just it can get blown away by the wind there

there's like limestone underneath it usually and and

the sower. Would you as he's?

Spreading his seed wasn't always worried about it, if there was

some there, because he would end up falling.

Up with the plow to. Turn up the soil anyways.

But it's it's meant to to. To show us that.

Potentially that seed would fall there, right.

And we we kind of know I think what that.

Looks like it. It's a might shoot.

Up a little bit, we'll see a little fruit.

Come up out. Of the seed.

But then on a really hot. Day it just dies.

And and this is like when we're we're coming to church, we're

hearing God's word preached, we're reading our Bible.

And we're kind of like in on it like.

OK, yeah, this is good. These people are pretty cool.

I'm going to come around and then something hard happens.

Like. Maybe you lose somebody.

In your life or. Maybe somebody tempts you and

you just follow along with them and never look back.

Because the the hardship. The the sin of life.

Just, absolutely just scorched. It and it died.

There's no. Real fruit.

For someone in the topsoil, it only ends up dying, being death

and then. There is the other.

Type of soil, and that's the seed in the thorny soil in verse

7. Other seeds.

Fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it and

it yielded no grain and Jesus says.

The others are the ones sewn among thorns.

They are. Those who hear the word but the

cares. Of the world and the

deceitfulness of. Riches and the.

Desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it

proves unfruitful. Thorns or anything that grabs

hold of us and pulls us, and distraction from God.

And really. It's like this is where we're

at. In the time of our lives, I

think. As I was.

Really ruminating on it and seeking to.

Let the the tech. Center me, I I find myself.

Here a lot. It's it's this picture where

okay, we're we're. Hearing the word and we're

receiving it, we're starting to grow and then all these other

things kind of enter in and they just take life away from us that

might. Be like.

The Netflix or entertainment or it literally might be money for

you. It might be clothes.

It's Amazon. It's just all these other

things. That we just push.

Our attention. Towards right like.

Yeah, we need clothes, but like how many we need to work.

But how much it's it's all the things that attach to it and

take away from the life, from from God's word, from entering

and getting into our hearts. And this could be some of you,

right? You're hearing the word and

maybe your heart's being pricked and you're realizing, I've got

this. That's just.

Taking my time, like personally, like when I'm, you know, I've

been on YouTube for. Six hours a week.

And I've read my Bible for six minutes.

It's. Like it's pretty.

Apparent where Thorn is. And then finally we have the

good soil. Other seeds.

Fell into the good soil, and produced grain, growing up and

increasing and yielding, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a

hundredfold. And those on the good soil,

they're ones who hear the word and accept it, and bear fruit.

These people are the ones who hear the message, and it

multiplies. They take a message, and they

thank Lord I need help, And then by God's.

Grace, they do it. Because fruit in this is about

doing it so. It's like take care how you hear

you're saying take. Care how you hear?

Don't just come to church and hear messages.

Think, oh, I. Got it.

I got. It and then nothing happens.

Jesus says those that hear the word.

They accept it and bear fruit. Remember, an average farmer was

like. Six fold yield.

He's. Saying that when we.

Hear the word. In the good.

Soil it's 30 fold 60. Fold and 100 fold it will just

multiply and grow and grow and grow and and this.

Is a process too. Right.

Even in in good soil, even in modern day farming farmers have.

High yield years. And low yield years, even.

Even in the good soil, right? The sun scorches and it comes

down hot and there's not as much growth in one day.

But with. With patience and perseverance

in this spot, what just keeps happening is.

That little wheat just. Keeps kind of growing up.

Just like us. Through patience.

Through perseverance. By God's grace.

We take in the word and we examine it, and we try to hear

it and let it come in and have that again A.

Cootate the hyper. Hearing come in into the heart

and enter in and fruit. Will be.

Bearing in our life. And if you.

Have a hard time seeing it. This is where community.

Is great you share with a brother and sister.

Man, I'm just. I'm just not seeing it.

Like you might just be even blind to God's grace in your own

life within that and kind of what butts us in the face as we

start talking about the good soil.

Is it's. It's really.

Easy to hear that and just be like yeah I'm in the I'm I'm the

good soil I'm I'm doing this and this and this.

You know it's it's really easy to come along but don't just

assume your good. Soil.

That's really what just struck me so hard this week is.

I'm reading through this and I'm like, yeah, and I'm coming from

the assumption like, you know, I'm in the good soil.

That. That we're all in the good.

Soil. But really.

Like maybe one of the other ones is describing where you're at.

Maybe there is all these other thorns just pulling distractions

in your life and it's reaching out to God and asking.

For help to grow. Out from under those and be part

of the good soil and I hope you're not getting the wrong

idea. About the good soil because.

Have to be careful about this. We have to be careful about it

because. It doesn't mean that the person

who hears the word and receives. It is a good.

Person. It's this kind of leads to the

temptation to say I'm a Christian, right?

Because I believe the word. Because I'm a good man, and if

that's what I think, I've. I had actually.

Haven't even received this. Parable I.

Haven't even received this. Parable if that's.

What we think So what makes a good soil?

It's. Why does one person receive the

word another doesn't? Is there something more

righteous than the one who rejects it?

No. Scripture tells us.

That unless a man is born again, he can't even see the Kingdom of

God and much less hear it. And when you were dead in your.

Trespasses, Christ died for you. This is the work of the sower.

Sow is the. Seed, and he plows it.

Up and he sows the seed and he plows it up year over year in

our hearts, Just like year. Over year in our.

Life as we are. Sitting in the church.

Pulpit. We hear the word.

And it's amazing because if if we're hearing the word and

taking it in. It's 30 fold 60.

Fold and 100 fold return on the fruits in our life.

It's it's almost like a promise saying that if we're seeking the

Lord and we're in this. Spot he will.

It just can't be helped. That we'll be bearing fruit in

other seasons will be more than others, and that is.

Part of life, but it's that. Perseverance and that continual.

Pressing through as we're. In a dry week, we're just

praying to God and asking for the rain to fall so that we can

keep growing. So our hope within this is that.

As we look at the different soils, the different places that

our heart could be at. That if you are being pricked.

If you are. Seeing maybe?

Maybe. Maybe you're stuck in the same

spot in your face for the last 5-10 years because there's too

many thorns. Or maybe right now you're in

that. Topsoil where you're just.

Trying to get a rip but you can't because.

There's a rock there, but the sewer, like, he cares about his

field, right? He cares about all of the wheat.

That's going to grow. He wants wants it to.

Grow. And he'll come along and.

Through his. Plow some of that some of that

grain on the on the rocky soil. His plow will hit it.

It'll kind of skid across the top.

It'll it could get pushes to the good.

Soil and grow. As the plow goes.

Through the thorny. Soil it'll pull.

Some of those weeds out and look.

OK, the weeds are pulled out. It's it's in good soil.

It's growing. It's the same for you and me.

Good news of it is that if you confess with your mouth.

That Jesus is Lord. And believe in your heart that

God raised him from the. Dead.

You'll be saved. For with the heart, 1 believes

and is justified, and with the mouth, 1 confesses and is saved.

We're made right with God and just like.

How a sower? Keeps coming back to the same

field again and again. He'll continue to come back to

us. We just have to have by His

grace. A heart that's willing to

receive. His word?

A heart. In the good soil.

So I leave. You with this question, friends.

What kind of soil are you in? Would you pray with me, Heavenly

Father thank. You So much for your word and

just how good it is and how it makes us think about our lives.

And it makes us. Look inward that we would not,

that there would not be anybody here.

Who has ears to? Hear that?

Wouldn't hear that. Your word is meant to fall on

soil that is looking to grow and bear.

Fruit in our lives. And.

You go before us. And you prepare our hearts and

just continue to prepare our hearts even as we go into this

community time it is. We could be quiet, loud with

others just. Praising you and seeking.

Seeking to have a. Heart that is like the good

soil. Receiving the word and then

bearing fruit that say would have no, nothing, no.

Ability to pluck. Any.

Of the word out. Away from any of us.

Amen.