Let's talk about soil
Gospel of Mark; Jesus a life to serve • Sermon • Submitted
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· 7 viewsJesus teaching about reception to the gospel message
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Reception
Reception
Jesus preached, proclaimed the kingdom of God, but no all had a good reception of it. He did not always have a receptive audience. Our story before us, this parable, illustrates two things
The problem Jesus faced
The different reactions, receptions of the gospel messages
Jesus was not impressed with the pressing in crowd (see Mk3:9) He knew there would be many who would not accept the message.
In this parable entitled parable of the sower and the soils, it really is focused on the four soils
By now, some had come to accuse Him (Mk3:2)
2 They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.
Others came to seek help for others (Mk2:3-4)
3 And they came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four men. 4 Being unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying.
Jesus started to teach in parables, our story is a parable today spoken on the heals of being accused (Mk3:22) and teaching about family of God (Mk3:35)
35 “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus stated to teach in parables in public (Mk4:1-2)
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Jesus stated to teach in parables in public (Mk4:1-2)
We will get to Mk4:1-2 in a few minutes) about teaching in parables
Jesus explained to disciples in private (Mk4:10, 33-34)
We will look at MK4:10 in a minute but Let me give you another item, then will look at a couple of scriptures.
Major problem people became hard of hearing (Mk4:11-12; Mt13:10-11)
33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.
12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. 13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 15 “The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house;
You can read on in Mt13:12-15 for more about why it is said, hard of hearing, but we need to move on.
So now, let’s look at the passage and then Jesus explanation of the soils, pay attention, key verse is (Mk4:13)
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. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and was saying to them in His teaching,
3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.
5 “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. 6 “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7 “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 “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.”
9 And He was saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
11 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, 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.”
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 “The sower sows the word.
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. 16 “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;
17 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. 18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
Mk4:13-14
19 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. 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.”
What did you see, what did you notice, what sticks out to you?
Now I mentioned soils, we can replace the word with hearts too. There are four kinds of soils, but there are four kinds of hearts too, we will look at those as we work our way through this passage too.
The wayside(roadside) / hard heart
The wayside(roadside) / hard heart
These are the one’s that that the seed taken from their hearts by Satan (MK4:15)
Matthews version tells us they did not understand (Mt13:19)
19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
M
Blinded by Satan to the gospel message (2Cor4:3-4)
While Satan maybe blinding them, they had a part, it is precipitated by their own hardness of hearts (Mt13:15)
15 For the heart of this people has become dull, With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return, And I would heal them.’
So, how about today, what does this look like?
Some love darkness more than light (Jn3:19-20)
19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Some love praise of men more than God (Jn12:42-43)
Some love praise of men more than God (Jn12:42-43)
42 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.
They see the appeal and are deceived by doctrines of secularism and materialism, as well as humanism, evolution and post-modernism.
The see the appeal and are deceived by doctrines of secularism and materialism, as well as humanism, evolution and post-modernism.
This soil, these hearts, are the ones today who have no interest in spiritual things.
Stony Ground/Shallow Heart
Stony Ground/Shallow Heart
So from the ones who reject the gospel message, to the ones now in who have a shallow heart, but we need to look at what Jesus has to say about it.
It is those who receive with joy (Mk4:16)
16 “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;
They have no root and they do not endure (Mk4:17)
17 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.
When affliction, when persecution come, they fall away
These are ones who heard, believed and obeyed the gospel, but did not grow roots, did not become true disciples and fell away. Oftentimes these are the ones who come from a place of emotionalism, but do not understand the cost of being a disciple, so they do not grow roots and they return to old roots, old ways.
Today many can be quick to obey the gospel, they receive it with great joy, they are enthusiastic, they are on fire upon baptism but not being grounded in the word they are not equipped for when the storms come, and they will come.
To prevent this kind of heart, we need to keep to the word, teach the word, help others to understand and apply the word so people can grow roots rooted in the Word of God.
Thorny Ground/Crowded heart
Thorny Ground/Crowded heart
Another example of hearing the Word, believing the Word, obeying the Word but they forget to do some weeding, or purifying and get choked out by the world
As mentioned they hear the Word (Mk4:18)
18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word,
Word has ability to be fruitful, but becomes unfruitful because the weeding, purifying not done (MK4:19)
19 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.
Too many worldly cares, desires.
Lusts of the flesh choking out the Word of God (Lk8:14)
14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
There may be many sitting in pews in churches today that are stagnant, that are being choked out by the cares of this world and not growing spiritually. They think they are OK (good soil) but their life is consumed with the world more than the Creator of the world.
These are the ones who are spiritual babes and are carnal (1Cor3:1-3; Heb5:12-14)
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,
3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
and add to this
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.
14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
People who are spiritually stunted in growth because they are easily distracted by the world (Lk12:29-32)
People who are relying on self sufficiency (1Tim6:17-19)
17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.
People whose minds are easily diverted from the things of the Spirit (Gal5:17; Gal6:7-9)
17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
9 Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.
Christians who are rendered fruitless because of the cares of this world, by materialism.
Finally this brings us to final soil
Good Soil/Fruitful Heart
Good Soil/Fruitful Heart
Here we have the picture of the true believer with the converted, transformed, changed life that bears fruit. This is the one that there is indisputable evidence of salvation.
Hear, accept, and bear fruit (MK4:20)
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.”
People will vary on the amount of fruit and the kind of fruit they will produce, but they will produce fruit.
Matthew says these are the ones who understand the Word (Mt13:23)
33 He spoke another parable to them, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”
23 “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Luke says with honest, good heart (Lk8:15)
15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
This is fruit that grows with perseverance! It takes effort!
Make effort to understand the word
Make an effort to keep the word
Make an effort to receive the word with all readiness (Act17:11)
Be like the Bereans who received with all readiness and checked it out
11 And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
May we always try to understand so we can bear fruit for the kingdom. We do not know the amount of fruit, or the kind of fruit we will produce but we know we will, in accordance to the grace given to us.
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;
And whatever our ability is, we should exercise it
10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Each of the hearts had a different enemy
Hard heart: devil himself
Shallow heart: The desires of the flesh
Crowded heart: The things of this world crowd out the Word.
Something to consider, what kind of soil are you? And does your life, your walk back up what you think?
May we be good soil, always reachable and teachable.
(lead to prayer)
Lord help us to have a good and noble heart, desiring to know and understand the Word and then keeping it so we may grow strong roots and that we may bear fruit worthy of the kingdom of God.