How Productive is the Soil in Your Heart?

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?

(Source: from a sermon by Jeff Strite, "Scattering the Seed" 7/13/08, SermonCentral.com)

What have we done with the seed God gave us?

There are typically 4 results when God’s seed (His Word) is given out.

Mark 4:1–9 NASB95

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.”

mark 4:

It depends upon the Soil Type in a person’s heart - (4 Soil Types)

Which Soil Type would represent the Response of your Heart?

Beside the Road (Bird Problem) v.4

Rocky Ground (No Depth of Soil) v.5-6

Among the Thorns (Choked Out) v.7

Good Soil (Fruitful Crop is Multiplied) v.8

Mark 4:10–12 NASB95

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.”

mark 4:

The Purpose of Parables

Why would God reveal kingdom mysteries to some, and hide them from others?

mark 4:

Matthew 13:12–13 NASB95

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.

What did Jesus’ mysterious pronouncement mean? The parallel account (, ) sheds some light: “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see: though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’” In essence Jesus was enigmatically saying that the condition of one’s heart determines its receptivity to truth. The scribes had originally been given straightforward teaching which they rejected and thus they could ultimately lose the truth—it would be taken away from them.

Mark 4:13–20 NASB95

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, 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.”

Those who receive truth and act upon it receive more. Those who reject truth will ultimately lose the bit they have. The parables were full of truth, but for truth-rejecting people, they were inscrutable.

This principle is paralleled in other areas of life. Physically, if we fail to exercise a muscle, we will one day lose its use. It is the same with our intellectual powers. If we fail to use them, there will come a time when we will not be able to summon their full power. God confronts us with his truth, but if we do not positively respond to it, we will lose it. What a solemn reality for those who sit under the teaching of God’s Word week after week and do not respond to it. (Preaching the Word - Kent Hughes)

Beside the Road (Bird Problem) v.15 (SATAN COMES AND TAKES AWAY THE WORD)

Rocky Ground (No Depth of Soil) v.17 (NO FIRM ROOT, ONLY TEMPORARY - AFFLICTION, PERSECUTION)

Among the Thorns (Choked Out) v.19 (WORRIES OF THE WORLD, DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES, DESIRES FOR OTHER THINGS

Good Soil (Fruitful Crop is Multiplied) v.20 (BEARS FRUIT)

Specifically, in your life, what are the things that prevent you from bearing multiplied fruit?

Beside the Road (Bird Problem) v.15 (SATAN COMES AND TAKES AWAY THE WORD)

Rocky Ground (No Depth of Soil) v.17 (NO FIRM ROOT, ONLY TEMPORARY - AFFLICTION, PERSECUTION)

Among the Thorns (Choked Out) v.19 (WORRIES OF THE WORLD, DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES, DESIRES FOR OTHER THINGS