The Gospel of Mark Part 14
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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We are jumping right into the middle of this parable, commonly called the parable of the sower, but we found last week that it is also about the seed and the soils, the latter of which is the primary focus.
I. The Setting
I. The Setting
We found ourselves seated along the shores of Galilee among a throng of possibly thousands of people, listening to Jesus who was seated in a small boat floating out on the water.
II. The Sower
II. The Sower
We found that the Sower was not named, but seemed to be a description of Jesus Himself.
III. The Seed
III. The Seed
Jesus told the disciples that the seed was the word - the very word of God.
The seeds also seem to represent parables - spiritual truth encapsulated in a physical shell, just like the information for the plant is stored in the seed.
IV. The Soils
IV. The Soils
We also discussed that each one of the four soils represents a type of heart that a person can have.
Last week we covered the first two types of soil: The Wayside Soil and The Stony Soil:
IV. The Soils
A. The Wayside Soil
B. The Stony Soil
And before we go into the next type of soil, we need to ask ourselves this important question:
“What kind of heart (or mind) do I have?”… “How do I respond to the seed?”
IV. The Soils
A. The Wayside Soil
B. The Stony Soil
C. The Thorny Soil
7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
This time, the soil is not hard, but soft and it is not shallow, but deep...but it has some competition in the field…there are other plants vying for the soil’s nutrients and even shading it from the warmth of the sun’s light. The good plants are growing, but they are being smothered by the thorns and thistles that grow in the land of Israel.
Let’s look back and remember why are there thorns and thistles in this world?
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
Thorns and thistles are part of the CURSE of sin!
Isaiah 7:23–25 (NKJV)
23 It shall happen in that day, That wherever there could be a thousand vines Worth a thousand shekels of silver, It will be for briers and thorns. 24 With arrows and bows men will come there, Because all the land will become briers and thorns. 25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe, You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns; But it will become a range for oxen And a place for sheep to roam.
This is Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming Assyrian invasion of Israel. Notice that “thorns” are part of the punishment from God.
God also spoke through Jeremiah to the people of Judah to return to the Lord by removing their idolatry and preparing the soil of their hearts to listen to Him:
For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem:
“Break up your fallow ground,
And do not sow among thorns.
Let’s take a look at Jesus’ explanation of this soil:
Mark 4:18–19 (NKJV)
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
The phrase, “hear the word” implies that they also believed the word, because there is evidence of new life - a plant is formed and growing.
But notice the three “thorns” that “choke the word”:
The thorn of “cares” (anxieties), the thorn of deceitful “riches”, and the thorn of “desires for other things”.
C. The Thorny Soil
1. The Thorn of Anxiety μέριμνα merimna: care, anxiety, concern, worry
Do you ever experience anxiety?…Then you have experienced the “cares of this world”.
ANXIETY Anxiety is a subspecies of fear (q.v.). The word refers to a general feeling of tension and concern that something fearful may happen. It is an apprehension which triggers a dread of something that seems to be impending.
Not has happened, but may happen - a fear of the unknown
Jesus warned against this in another passage:
Luke 21:34 (NKJV)
34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
And it is the same word used in 1 Peter 5:7
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
This verse, by itself, gets printed on t-shirts and coffee mugs and bumper stickers, but there is a greater context that gives us a more meaningful experience with God’s word (the seed)
OPEN YOUR BIBLES TO 1 PETER 5, STARTING AT VERSE 5 AND READING DOWN THROUGH VERSE 7. <read passage>
Notice that before the command to cast our cares (our anxieties) to God, we are given a command that seems to be primary, fleshed out in at least four different ways in verses 5 and 6:
“submit yourselves to your elders” (v.5a)
“be submissive to one another” (v.5b)
“be clothed with humility” (v.5c)
“humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (v.6a)
“casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” (v.7)
We cannot very easily remove the thorn of anxiety from the soil of our hearts as long as we allow pride to be our gardener. The primary command is to humble yourself (i.e. remove pride) so that you can freely cast your cares on God.
A proud person is the one that thinks, “I can deal with my anxiety myself - I am self-sufficient and don’t need anyone’s help, including God!” - The problem is that we were not designed to carry the load of our anxieties - and when we do, we are asking our shoulders to bear what they were never meant to bear.
25 Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.
And the thorn of anxiety slowly chokes our life away. It’s a slow death, but it is so destructive. Remove your thorns of anxiety by removing the pride that keeps you in that choke hold:
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
C. The Thorny Soil
1. The Thorn of Anxiety
2. The Thorn of Deceitful Riches ἀπάτη apatē: deception, delusion
Mark 4:18–19 (NKJV)
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
This thorn is extremely painful because we believe that wealth will do things that it was never meant to do.
For many, money is the ultimate problem-solver: “If only I had more money, I would be free to ____________.”
Notice that it is not the “riches” themselves…but it is the DECEITFULNESS of the riches.
It is not wrong to have wealth - money itself is NOT the thorn here - it is what one BELIEVES about money that makes the difference.
4 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, But righteousness delivers from death.
Riches profit in the day of grocery shopping and when the bills come due. But not when our souls come due.
24 For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
Money has “wings” - it is here one day and gone the next. If you have ever tried to teach children how to manage their money, you have seen this first hand.
It is easy to see the difficulties that come with financial hardship, but what about the difficulties that come with financial gain?
It’s hard when the glass is empty, but you have a new challenge when the glass is full - try moving across the room with a full mug of coffee - you are probably going too spill some…and that’s the challenge for those with great wealth - having wisdom on how the Lord would have it invested.
Paul wrote this warning to young Timothy regarding the deceitfulness of riches:
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Notice that a driving lust for wealth is a “snare” - a trap…something that seemed like a good idea at the moment, but leads to destruction, even for believers…and notice the language here: when they LOVED money, they “pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”…not unlike a long, pointed thorn that pierces the hand when grasped.
Who ALONE deserves our love?
Mark 12:30 (NKJV)
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
Riches are like a mirage in the desert, which has all the appearance of satisfying, and lures on the traveller with the promise of water and shade; but he only wastes his strength in the effort to reach it. So riches never satisfy: the pursuit of them always turns out a snare.
And this warning is for both those that desire riches above all else and those that already have them.
C. The Thorny Soil
1. The Thorn of Anxiety
2. The Thorn of Deceitful Riches
3. The Thorns of Desire ἐπιθυμία epithumia: irregular, violent, or impure (lustful) desire
Mark 4:18–19 (NKJV)
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Although this word is sometimes used in a positive way (Jesus: “I desire to eat this Passover with you”-Luke 22.15 and Paul: “having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better”- Phil. 1.23), it is most often used in a negative sense as it describes sinful lust and desires.
So as we utilize our most important rule of Bible interpretation: CONTEXT, - used alongside two other words of warning - we see that this word must mean a sinful desire or at least a misplaced priority.
The question we might ask ourselves as we consider the soil of our hearts is “What is keeping me from God?”… “What are the desires I have that have been choking the life out of my relationship with the Lord?”… “What in my life is causing me to not bear fruit?”
Luke calls these thorns the “pleasures of life”:
Luke 8:14 (NKJV)
14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
Remember how Jesus begins and ends this parable - with commands to LISTEN and to HEAR. A person who has “desires for other things” is a person who is not listening to the Word - they are not really hearing what God is saying - they are distracted.
Mark 4:18–19 (NKJV)
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Notice the effect of these three types of thorns: they “choke the word”.
This word choke means to throttle, to cause severe hardship, to oppress, to overwhelm.
A plant that is being choked cannot produce the fruit that it was intended to produce.
<grapevine story from Trail Ridge Camp>
Notice that the plant “becomes” unfruitful…it didn’t start unfruitful - it had some fruit growing at one point…but no longer - the thorns have taken over and the plant is fruitless.
“What kind of heart (or mind) do I have?”… “How do I respond to the seed?” … “What fruit am I producing?”
D. The Good Soil
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.