The Parable of the "Sower/Soils"

Intro

What’s up INDE Fam! We’ve made it to the Halfway point in the Semester, and things are getting crazy! Assignments are coming due, school, sports and extra curriculars are starting to feel more and more heavy with all of the places that you’ve gotta be, and things that you’ve gotta do.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed! I want to start tonight by praying for yall! Praying for Energy, Focus, and for the Clarity of mind to make the right decisions moving forward.

Pray

Illustration

Henry Ford gave away millions of dollars to many different causes in his lifetime, but he was notorious for the fact that he refused to give any money at all to schools. He felt that well-meaning but non-businesslike people frequently mishandled those gifts.

Now, there was a woman named Martha Berry who had begun a school in Mt. Berry, Georgia. She’d started the school because she was shocked to discover that many of rural children attended neither a church nor school and were unfamiliar with stories from the Bible. So she decided to start a school where the poor could learn to read and write and do arithmetic and to know basic Bible stories.

But she needed more money than she had.

Now, she was aware of the fact that Ford never gave money to schools but she went to him anyway and asked for an endowment. As expected, Ford refused.

So Miss Berry, said "Well, then, would you give me a dime to buy a sack of raw peanuts?"

Ford was a little taken back, and he asked why she wanted just a dime. She replied: "A dime is all I want, Mr. Ford, but I do want to show you what I can do with ten cents."

Berry returned to her school, and she and her students planted and replanted the peanuts. Then she sold the crop for $600 and took the money to Ford.

She stood face-to-face with Henry Ford, and said, "See how practical we are in the use of money at the Martha Berry School?"

Mr. Ford was so pleased with what she’d done, he gave Miss Berry the $600 back--and added $2 million to it. Martha Berry took the money and built the buildings that became Berry College in Mt. Berry, GA.

The difference between God and Henry Ford is -- God believes we are capable of making good use of what He’s given us. He believes in us, and He trusts us to be faithful. The question for us today: what have we done with the seed God gave us?

Tonight, We’re gonna begin studying the Parables of Jesus.

Now, In order for us to do this, We need to know that even means, right?

A Parable is “A Simple Story used to Illustrate a Moral or Spiritual Lesson”

Leading up to tonight’s parable, Jesus has been doing some amazing things! He has rescued people from demons, and Healed people of their sickness and disabilities. The Jews had been waiting for a long time for the “Messiah” that had been predicted in the Old testament.

The people were more excited than ever for Jesus’ coming, but when He actually arrived they didn’t believe he was the Promised one of the Old Testament.

Why? because over time, everyone had created the Messiah that would fit their needs. Not the one the Old Testament had predicted. So when he showed up and didn’t fit their description they said it wasn’t really him.

Exegesis

Let’s Hop into the Text

Mark 4:1–9 ESV

1 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. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 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. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Gospel is really cool in that we have multiple perspectives of the teachings and life of Jesus. Mark is unique in that it is widely considered the first of the Gospels to be written and spread throughout the world. Mark was a follower and friend of Simon Peter. Yup, the same one who was in Jesus’ inner circle, the one who walked on water, the Same peter who failed Jesus by denying him in the midnight hour, and the same peter who was the “Rock” on which Jesus would build the church.

So this book could be renamed the Gospel according to Peter, because this would have been the source of most of Mark’s writing.

Here we see Jesus tell a story of a Farmer spreading seed in His field. Not unlike Arab, Galilee was an agricultural town. A town in which the people would have understood, and been captivated by this type of example.

Jesus was in a Sense, “Speaking their Language”

Why doesn’t Jesus just tell us what to do?

This is the same question that the Disciples asked. Let’s be honest, they were just as aggravated as we would have been. Can you imagine asking someone a question, only to always be met with another question, or a story?! How Frustrating would that get?

So the scriptures say they asked him.

Mark 4:10–12 ESV

10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 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, 12 so that “ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ”

Jesus’ Purpose in Parables

Jesus tells his followers that true Christians will hear his Parables, meditate on them, and be able to understand. However, the “Fake Christian” will be totally confused.

You see, There were a ton of people following him at that time, but most of them were really only interested in seeing or experiencing the miracles that he’d been performing. “They were there for the show, not for the Savior.”

So Jesus began teaching more and more in a way that would:

Convict the “Fake Christian” of their sins, so they would either get mad and leave, or really follow Jesus!

Teach the “Real Christians” more and more about the Kingdom of God!

That’s exactly what we see here in our parable tonight! Let’s break it down!

As we’ve already said, Parables are what?

“A Simple Story used to Illustrate a Moral or Spiritual Lesson”

The first illustration is that of the “Hard Soil”

For us today, this is a

Callous Heart

In case you didn’t know, to be Callous is to be hardened and thickened, or to show no emotion.

Mark 4:3–4 ESV

3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

This path would have been one of many roads that the farmers used to get around. It would have been constantly walked on, so that any seed would have been trampled, and as soon as the farmer was far enough away the birds would fly down for an unguarded and safe meal.

Jesus doesn’t do this often, but he actually interprets this parable for us, just a few verses later.

Mark 4:13–15 ESV

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 along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

Phillips comments "We see it happen at every service. The moment the benediction is given, there is a buzz of conversation, and what was said in the sermon is forgotten. By the time we get to the car, the conversation has turned to lunch… or something else. In any case, the seed is gone.

When we are calloused by the world around us, the word of God has a hard time piercing our hearts. It just bounces off of a thick wall that is meant to Guard us from being hurt, but keeps out the one thing that can heal us. The one thing that can mend our brokenness!

The second illustration that Jesus gives is that of the “Rocky Soil” i call this the:

Shallow Heart

What happens with the Rocky soil?

Mark 4:5 ESV

5 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.

Mark 4:6 ESV

6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

How did Jesus describe these people to his disciples?

Mark 4:16–17 ESV

16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

Commentator Ray Stedman says that these "are the impulsive hearts. The seed falls upon them and they immediately respond with joy. The seed takes root and grows up quickly. The trouble is, they respond like this to everything -- food fads, new books, political leaders, whatever popular movement happens to be abroad at the time. As a result, their lives are so shallow that the seed of the life-giving Word cannot take deep root and change them. Consequently, the life which apparently is there withers away and dies. Jesus says that this kind of life is shallow; it cannot stand the heat. When persecution and tribulation come, immediately it is withered. They turn away and lose interest, and cannot abide."

The Final form of the difficulties mentioned by Jesus is that of the “Thorny Soil”

Crowded Heart

Mark 4:7 ESV

7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.

In all of these, Jesus really speaks not only to those present, but to our culture today. He explains this part of his Parable by saying:

Mark 4:18–19 ESV

18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 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.

Jesus is telling us that our Hearts are to crowded!!

Matthew 6:24 ESV

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Here Jesus specifically lists 3 “Weeds that Must be Pulled” in order to Clear our Hearts

“Worries” of the world

“Deceit” of Riches

“Desires” for other Things

Finally, we see the:

Ready Heart

The Scripture Says:

Mark 4:8 ESV

8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

To the farmers who were listening, these were crazy numbers! Thirtyfold would have been a great year of harvest for them, but sixty and a hundredfold was unheard of!! So when they heard that this seed (the word of God) could bring that type of harvest, they were sold!! They wanted in! But their hearts had to be right!

Adrian Rogers reviews the soils "In the first place, there was no reception of the seed. In the second place, there was no root for the seed. In the third place, there was no room for the seed. But in the fourth place, there was no resistance to the seed. This is the good soil."

The Parable of the Sower/Soils

So let me ask you this tonight!

What type of soil makes up your heart?

Is your “Soil” soft and fertile to receive the free gift of Salvation, or is your heart Callous, Shallow, or Crowded?