The Four Heart Conditions (Mark 4:1–20)

CPT: Jesus teaches a parable about how God’s message falls on different heart conditions and produces fruit within a heart that is welcoming to the message.

Purpose: The listener should consider how the message of God is falling on their heart.

CPS: What is the condition of your heart?

Heart Condition 1: The Resistant Heart

Heart Condition 2: The Uncommitted Heart

Heart Condition 3: The Worldly Heart

Heart Condition 4: The Prepared Heart

Introduction

It is important for us to know the condition of our heart.

I worked for a homeless shelter for about seven years in San Diego. Every year they would send us to take a physical exam. We would go to a medical facility in Mission Valley and take this physical exam.

There would be the normal things you’d expect. You’d fill out some paperwork, take a drug test. Then you would sit in a room where they would tell you to have minimal clothing on, because a doctor was coming in give you a physical exam.

It got routine. I had done it a number of years with no problem. So I’m sitting in the room, ready, waiting for the doctor.

The doctor came in. He had his stethoscope around his neck. A stethoscope has this circular medal disc on one end, which is called the chestpiece. The chestpiece is connected to two hollow tubes leading to ear pieces so that the doctor can hear what is happening inside your body, and particularly to listen to your heartbeat.

Now, I have gone through this many times in my life, as you probably understand. This is a typical part of a physical exam. They put the medal chestpiece on your chest, tell you to take a deep breath in, take a deep breath out, they hear it in a couple of places in your front, a couple of places in your back, and then they normally move on to the next part.

Well, this doctor took the cold medal disc, places it on my chest, and does the normal listening to my heartbeat, telling me to take a deep breath in and out. But this time, he stopped. He kept putting it back and forth. I think he must have been listening to my chest for five minutes or so. His face changed, as he got this curious look on his face.

This is the part of the exam you want them to just go through and move on. But he stayed listening to my heart. I was wondering, “Is my heart beating? What’s going on?”

He let me know that he was hearing an abnormal heartbeat, and that I should follow up with my physician. I did. They set me up with an echocardiogram, which ended up showing that I had an irregular heartbeat, or a heart arrhythmia, which is like your heart skipping a beat.

Basically, when I hit my 40s, my heart truly became Puertorican. It has a little rhythm now, a little Salsa. If anyone is wondering, I am fine. I did end up giving up coffee, which makes me sad, because I love coffee. I drink a lot of tea now, which seems to be better.

But think about this: The doctor’s stethoscope exposed something about my heart. The stethoscope exposed my heart condition. The Bible talks about our spiritual heart. We have a spiritual heart condition. When we hear the Word of God, how we receive it exposes things about our own heart condition.

We will see that today in Mark 4:1-20, the Parable of the Sower.

Scripture Reading

Mark 4:1–20 CSB

1 Again he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore. 2 He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them, 3 “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 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 didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.” 9 Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.” 10 When he was alone, those around him with the Twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables 12 so that they may indeed look, and yet not perceive; they may indeed listen, and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven.” 13 Then he said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand all of the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them. 16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away. 18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”

Pray

Jesus often used parables in his ministry to teach a spiritual lesson to his people. This parable is known as the Parable of the Sower. A parable is a story that serves to illustrate a bigger teaching. Jesus used parables to teach his people spiritual truths about the kingdom of God.

Parables are a Hebraic form of teaching. You do see them in the Old Testament. For example, in Isaiah 5:1-7, the prophet Isaiah used the description of a vineyard to teach about how God planted Israel but they were in rebellion against him. In 2 Samuel 12:1-14, the prophet Nathan used a parable of rich man taking a poor man’s ewe lamb to expose how David had committed sin. In Ezekiel 33:1-9, the prophet describes a watchman on the wall who sounds the alarm for the people, and in the same way God uses him to warn the people.

In Mark 4, Jesus describes why he teaches in parables. Jesus is getting crowds, and the crowds are so large that, when he is teaching by the sea, he has to teach to them in a boat. We’ve seen this in Mark, where people are crowding around Jesus. They are crowding around Jesus wherever he preaches. They crowd around him in a house. They crowd around him along the street.

He is gaining both in popularity and opposition. While people are gathering around him to hear him teach, for healing, and for deliverance from demons, he is also facing opposition from the Pharisees, the scribes, from the religious elite. In Mark 3, it also speaks about opposition from his own family.

The world is breaking up into two groups: Those on the inside, who believe Jesus, and those on the outside, who are opposed to Jesus. He describes it this way, in Mark 4:11-12:

Mark 4:11–12 CSB

11 He answered them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables 12 so that they may indeed look, and yet not perceive; they may indeed listen, and yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back and be forgiven.”

Jesus teaches in parables to lead his followers to learn things about the kingdom of God. But to those on the outside, it’s interesting. Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah to describe a people who are numb, who resist and hardened against the Word of God.

This parable is an explanation of verses 11-12, describing the heart conditions of people. There are four heart conditions that he describes. Three of them do not produce fruit. There is only one heart condition that produces fruit. Let’s look at them.

The first heart condition,

Heart Condition One: A Resistant Heart

Our Lord describes this first heart condition in verses 3-4. He says:

Mark 4:3–4 CSB

3 “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.

He starts with a strong verb, it’s known as an imperative verb. An imperative is me telling or asking you to do something. Our Lord says “Listen!” He wants you to hear with intention. The word there for “Consider” in verse 3 is also an imperative, and could translate as “Behold” or “Look and see.” The Lord wants our attention to this story.

He says, “Consider the sower who went out to sow.” Who is the Sower? The Sower is Jesus and all who follow him in proclaiming God’s Word, God’s good news message. The seed that he is sowing is the good news message of Jesus Christ.

It says that some seed that the sower threw out fell along the path. So there is a pathway, or a road, and the seed is left exposed on the pathway. This seed that falls along the path or the road is exposed and left open. The birds came and quickly devoured it.

One day I was standing outside here by our patio where the big lawn is at. The lawn had just been mowed, it needs to be mowed again, but we had just cut down the weeds that grew from all of the rainfall. All of a sudden, I heard this huge commotion of crows. You can hear a flock of crows from a half-mile away. They came and landed on the lawn out here, and it seemed like they just came quickly, made this huge commotion, and then they were gone.

It reminds me of how quickly birds can swoop down and devour what’s been cast on the ground. Our Lord uses this to illustrate how the enemy works on the resistant heart. He says this in verse 15:

Mark 4:15 CSB

15 Some are like the word sown on the path. When they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word sown in them.

The reason I call this the resistant heart is, think of a path. The ground on a path or a road is not really soft. It hasn’t been broken down so that when the seed hits it, it can take root. No, a pathway is hard. It’s been traveled on over time, any dirt on it has been trampled on to make it resistant to anything penetrating it.

Some of people’s hearts are like that hardened road. It’s been traveled on, and they’ve built up a concrete wall on that heart that nothing can penetrate. So when God’s Word is preached, they resist anything that wants to penetrate their heart.

Satan loves a hardened heart. He will steal away the message of God’s because of the power of your resistant heart.

One example of this is in forgiveness. You might refuse to forgive someone. You might tell yourself, “If I hold on to this hatred, I can get back at that person who hurt me. I refuse to forgive him, because he does not deserve it. I refuse to forgive.” What hatred and unforgiveness does it starts to harden your heart, it builds a concrete barrier over time.

You might hear the Gospel preached and think, “Wait, I can’t become a Christian, because I can’t forgive!” Satan will use that resistant heart to steal away what the sower has sown.

Paul was aware of the danger of unforgiveness and how Satan uses a resistant heart when he said this in 2 Cor. 2:10-11:

2 Corinthians 2:10–11 CSB

10 Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

What is the scheme of Satan? It is to take advantage of a resistant heart, a heart that has hardened over time through unforgiveness. Ephesians 4:26-27 says to “26 Be angry and do not sin. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and don’t give the devil an opportunity.” The devil takes advantage of a resistant heart. If you have a resistant heart, let down the barrier. Repent, and follow Jesus.

Illustrate

Apply

The first heart condition our Lord talks about is a resistant heart.

Second,

Heart Condition Two: An Uncommitted Heart

The Lord describes this second heart condition uses the picture of a seed on rocky ground. He says in verses 5-6:

Mark 4:5–6 CSB

5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.

As the seed falls on this ground, there are rocks in the way. There may be some soil between the rocks, but it is not deep. There isn’t a lot of room for the root to grow. So without deep roots, the plant is not able to get a strong root system. It’s not able to get the water and nutrients it needs from the soil. Once the sun comes up, it burns up and withers away whatever was planted. He explains this in verses 16-17:

Mark 4:16–17 CSB

16 And others are like seed sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root; they are short-lived. When distress or persecution comes because of the word, they immediately fall away.

Growing up, I went to a church that had an altar call. For those that don’t know, the altar call was something that happened at the end of the sermon. The preacher would get to the end of his sermon, and you knew it was the end because the keyboard player started playing. The preacher would get into his prayer, and the keyboard would play some soft chords in the background, maybe a hymn. At some point in the prayer, he would say, “With every head bowed, and every eye closed… no one is looking around… you’ve heard the message and you want to give your life to Christ. Would you raise your hand?” Every Sunday, I would feel so convicted. “I messed up this week, I need to do it again!”

What would happen? Well, I would get into the moment on the Sunday and say, “Yes, I need the Lord.” I would walk away feeling good. But then what happens on Monday? I would go back, and start living my Monday through Saturday life. Why is that? Because there was no root. There was the moment, but ultimately there would be some challenge during the week. Am I going to live for Christ in my school? Am I going to live for Christ when others are not?

When you live your life for Christ, there is going to be distress. There is going to be opposition. Why is that?

Think of a school of fish. You are just swimming along with the rest of the school, going along with the current. And then one day, you turn around. You go the opposite way. All the fish are going one way, and you turn the opposite way, against the current.

Our Lord describes it this way in John 15:18-19:

John 15:18–19 CSB

18 “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.

There is friction that will come as a follower of Christ. As a follower of Christ, you’re going to be challenged in your workplace. Your buddies are going to want you to follow them into sin. Following Christ is a commitment that goes beyond Sunday. You need to be rooted in Christ, knowing that greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

The first heart condition is a resistant heart.

The second heart condition is an uncommitted heart.

Third,

Heart Condition Three: A Worldly Heart

The Lord describes this heart as a heart full of thorns. He says this in verse 7:

Mark 4:7 CSB

7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit.

When you cast seed among thorns, you might get some initial growth. But what happens is that the thorns and weeds start to compete with the plant for water, nutrients, and sunlight. Eventually, the thorns and weeds start to overtake the plant, grow around it, and prevent it from getting the resources that it needs to grow.

Our Lord explains the seed among thorns as a worldly heart. He says this in verses 18-19:

Mark 4:18–19 CSB

18 Others are like seed sown among thorns; these are the ones who hear the word, 19 but the worries of this age, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

This is what can happen with a heart that is focused on temporary things. We are offered the message of eternal life, but that seems like something too far away.

You say, “That’s good, but I don’t need that right now. That sounds good for when I get older, but right now, the rent is too high. I can’t afford to live where I’m at. I need money. Money is what’s going to solve my problems. I’m trying to live my best life right now, and that doesn’t include Jesus.”

Our Lord describes what can happen in a worldly heart in three ways.

First, “the worries of this age.” What is that? Fear. In our day to day life, we can get overwhelmed by being afraid of what is going to happen next. A heart that focuses on temporary things can be overwhelmed with fear and anxiety.

Second, “the deceitfulness of wealth.” Wealth is deceitful because it seems like it can solve your problems. But you get to the other side, you get more money, and you find out that the problems are still there. They might look different, but money will not heal a broken heart and a sinful life.

Third, “the desires for other things.” The things you desire can expose the idols in your life. You desire things because you believe those things will make you happy.

John uses this same three-fold description to describe a worldly heart in his letter. In 1 John 2:15-16, he says:

1 John 2:15–16 CSB

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

We need to be people who keep our eyes on the eternal, and not people who get swept up in the worries, the deceit, and the desires of this age.

Heart Condition One: A Resistant Heart

Heart Condition Two: An Uncommitted Heart

Heart Condition Three: A Worldly Heart

What about the last heart condition,

Heart Condition Four: A Prepared Heart

In the Parable of the Sower, the first three seeds that are sown are not fruitful. The seed on the path, the seed on rocky ground, and the seed among thorns, none of them are fruitful. It is the last one that is fruitful. The Lord says in verse 8:

Mark 4:8 CSB

8 Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.”

The first thing about this being “good ground” is interesting. In agriculture, good ground is not easy. In first-century Israel, to prepare the soil for planting, it was an important and labor-intensive process.

First, you had to plow the soil. You would plow the soil to break it up, remove the weeds, and any other debris. You would typically use an ox or a donkey to pull the plow. Second, you would do something called harrowing, which is breaking up clods of dirt and smoothing the surface of the soil. Third, you would fertilize the soil. You would want to enrich and provide nutrients for the crops through fertilizing it. Fourth, you would irrigate the soil, bringing water to the fields. Last, you would till the soil, creating rows for planting the seeds. Getting good ground was hard work, it was a process.

After all of that, a good crop for a first-century farmer was something like 10 to 1. Getting 30, 60, and 100 times, that was not heard of! Jesus explains the good ground in this parable this way in verse 20.

Mark 4:20 CSB

20 And those like seed sown on good ground hear the word, welcome it, and produce fruit thirty, sixty, and a hundred times what was sown.”

A heart with good ground is a prepared heart. We can be in those other heart conditions at different times of our life. We can have a resistant heart, where we are hardened by life, and resist the message of God’s grace. We can have an uncommitted heart, where we accept the message of grace but fall away quickly when things get tough. We can have a worldly heart, where we get caught up in the day to day worries and stress, and lose sight of what God would have for us that day.

But God uses things in our life to bring us to a place of a prepared heart. Sometimes that preparing is not comfortable. We get that resistant heart, but we start to reap the consequences of unforgiveness and anger, and slowly there starts to be a few cracks, the soil starts to break as it starts to get plowed. We get caught up in a moment and fall away when living for God gets hard. But sometimes it takes us to fall on our face, where we remember that we need God, and the soil of our heart begins to get fertilized a bit. We might start focusing on worldly things until we realize that there is no hope in what the world has to offer. More and more, the soil of our heart is churned to prepare us to finally surrender to Christ.

There have been times in my life where I have seen myself in all four of these places. Many times I had that resistant heart, where I pushed the message of God’s grace away. But God never stopped pursuing me. There were times when I would accept the message for a time and then fall away, but God never stopped pursuing me. There were times when I focused on trying to get my joy and pleasure from the world, but God never stopped pursuing me.

Then in 2006, my life was torn up, and my heart was ready for the message of God’s grace. And thank God, that God never stopped pursuing me.

Maybe God is preparing your heart today. Because of his love, God will not stop pursuing you. He died on the cross for you and wants to set you free. Don’t resist God. Don’t get caught up in a moment. God wants you for a lifetime. Don’t worry about the things in your life. Set your mind and your heart on God. He will lead and guide you.

When you surrender your life to Christ, the Bible says that he will produce fruit in your life. Abundant fruit, a life that you have never known. It is a life of love, a life living in God’s forgiveness, a life of freedom!

What is the condition of your heart? Take time to think about where your heart is with the Lord. Is it resisting him? Is it one that lacks commitment? It is a heart that is caught up in the things of this world? Or is your heart ready, prepared, ready to die to yourself and say, “I am with Jesus, no matter what”?

Conclusion

Heart Condition One: A Resistant Heart

Heart Condition Two: An Uncommitted Heart‌

Heart Condition Three: A Worldly Heart

Heart Condition Four: A Prepared Heart

Conclude

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!