Mark 4:1-20 Spiritual Farming
Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 19 viewsNotes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”
From J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”
Pray
Mark 4:1-20
Mark 4:1-20
House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text
House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text
Introduction and Review:
Introduction and Review:
Jesus is now a few months into His earthly ministry (Review Jesus incarnation, mission, message)
Thousands of followers - so many in this case that He teaches from a boat in the Sea of Galilee (photo of the sea of Galilee)
Jesus is teaching in parables now. Mark 4:10-12 “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.””
Why did Jesus teach this way?
Pharisees and scribes were not interested in God’s revelation - only trying to get rid of Him
Not everyone will come to Christ, by teaching in this way, Jesus is separating sheep from goats.
This is the most well-known of Jesus parables
Provides a description of how different types of people respond to God’s Word.
This describes people everywhere, all over the world and all over the country
The language Jesus uses is perfectly clear. Doesn’t need much explanation
Jesus shows us that no matter how many people there are in the world, there are only really four types of responses to the Word of God
Seed on the side of the field, Mark 4:3-4 ““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.”
Seed on the side of the field, Mark 4:3-4 ““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.”
Go to church, don’t pay attention
They go to be seen
they go for appearances
to be seen or show off
look respectable
Pay no attention to the preaching
They are lost in worldly thoughts. Only meaningless words - blah blah blah
No money in it, or food or free stuff
They think about other things
Do not care about law, gospel, commands
See no beauty in Christ
Has zero effect on them
When they leave, it has had no impact - brain dump
Many many Christians like this
In every church or chapel
They are allowing Satan to steal valuable and useful teaching from them
They live without fear, without faith, without knowledge, without God’s grace
They feel nothing, they don’t care
It’s as if Christ never went to the cross - the Gospel is a story to them
They will die like this, and then the judgement, then hell
This is a sad situation
Some people hear, but their hearts are stony
Some people hear, but their hearts are stony
, Mark 4:5-6
, Mark 4:5-6
““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 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.”
Some hearers of the Gospel have hearts that are like the stony ground in a field
These are folks who find the message interesting, but it leaves no lasting impression
They get the message into their heads, but not the heart. Its when it gets into our hearts that the message produces the change the God desires
They like to hear messages that speak the truth
They can talk like experts, with real enthusiasm about how wonderful the Gospel is and how happy they are when they hear it.
They can become tearful and emotional when they hear the appeals of preachers, talk openly about their own struggles, conflicts, desires, fears
Then, they lose interest, they slip away - their feelings only last for a short time
There is no real work of the Holy Spirit to sustain them
When trouble comes, they forget their faith, fall away,
They are like a cut flower, with no root, their religion just fades away
Like the first group, there are many in churches, or who call themselves Christians, who are like this
They enthusiastically listen to the Gospel and think they are children of Christ
Because they like the preaching, they think that God is at work in their hearts
They are lying to themselves - they are still dead in their sins
With their feelings, joys, hopes and desires, they are nevertheless headed for destruction
Seed among the thorns, Mark 4:7 ““Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.”
Seed among the thorns, Mark 4:7 ““Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.”
Some who hear the Gospel have hearts that are like the thorny ground in the field
They hear the Gospel and to a certain extent obey it.
They understand it, and agree with it.
Their conscience is affected by it
They agree it is right, good, and should be believed and obeyed
They may even avoid sins and obey commands the Bible requires
But they stop short, they can’t grow in their Christian faith
The secret of their problem is the World (explain)
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.
New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (Mk 4:19). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
All the cares of this world keep the Word and Spirit from helping them grow
They are standing still, and never bear fruit
Unfortunately, you can find many cases like this, inside the church and out.
These are the saddest
To get so far, yet let the world come between you and Christ, to not give your heart to Christ, is terrible
Unless they change, these folks will never get into heaven
Christ must have our all
James 4:4 “You adulteresses, 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.”
Seed on good ground, Mark 4:8 ““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.”
Seed on good ground, Mark 4:8 ““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.”
Then, there are some hearers of the Gospel, whose hearts are like the good soil in a field
They take Christ’s truth into their hearts, believe it fully, obey it completely. They fully embrace the Saviour
You can see the fruit that these people produce: wonderful godly results not only in their hearts, but in their lives
They hate sin, it saddens them, they fight against it, they speak against it
They truly love Christ, trust Him, follow Him, obey Him
Their way of life shows holiness, humility, they are spiritual, patient, loving
You can see their love and faith - they are open about their faith
The work of the Holy Spirit cannot be hidden
There will always be some like this where the Gospel is faithfully preached
May be few
Levels of spiritual growth may differ a lot
The fruit of the Gospel will always be the same
repentance
visible faith in Christ
Holiness
These are necessary for saving faith
Bringing it home
Bringing it home
Have to ask ourselves: what are we?
What group are we?
fallen by the wayside - the Word bounces off
stony ground - no depth
caught up in the thornbushes of the world
Seed of the Gospel growing in our hearts - embrace the Saviour
What kind of hearts do we hear the Gospel with?
Three ways to hear it wrong, one right
The one mark of a right hearted hearer - they bear fruit - you can see the work of Christ in their lives
Without that fruit, they are bound for hell
Prayer
Prayer
Discussion
Discussion