Rev. David Holwick J Parables of Jesus
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
March 13, 2016
Mark 4:1-9
WHAT’S YOUR YIELD?
I. Seeds are big business.
A. The world leader is Monsanto.
1) They developed genetically modified seeds in 1983.
a) Some say this is the foundation of "Frankenfood,"
genetic time-bombs that will destroy agriculture.
b) But Monsanto thinks it can save the world by developing
crops that resist drought and pests, and produce
more grain.
c) Their most popular seeds are resistant to weed killer
chemicals, so farmers can kill the weeds and keep
the crop, and plant more of it on each acre.
2) How big a business it is? They sold $8 billion in seeds
last year. (half of their $15 billion business)
B. Every farmer wants to get a high yield.
1) At a minimum, agronomists calculate farmers need a 3:1
return on the seeds they plant or they will starve.
2) They need an ever better return if they are to feed people
outside of their own family.
3) The good news is that crop yield has been increasing.
a) From 1961 to 1985, cereal production more than doubled
in developing nations.
b) If the world's population keeps increasing, it will
have to double again.
C. Christians should be concerned about yields too.
1) We don't get hit by potato bugs or leaf mold, but there
is plenty out there to stunt our growth, even destroy it.
2) Do you have your eye on the harvest?
II. One of Jesus' classic parables.
A. As stories go, it is pretty basic.
1) A farmer walks through his field sowing seed.
a) One Episcopal preacher who did a sermon on this passage
thought it was a pretty stupid way to plant crops.
b) He figured there must be a deeper meaning here but for
the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.
2) In reality, this is exactly how ancient farmers sowed seed.
a) The field would have been plowed roughly and not very
deeply.
b) Then he would walk through the field with a bag over
his shoulder, grabbing handfuls of seed and whipping
it out side to side.
1> Our closest example may be salt trucks - they spin
out the salt behind them and some ends up in
yards, or on cars, but enough ends up on the
road to do the job.
B. Each seed encounters a different environment.
1) The pathway.
a) In Palestine, paths wandered on the edges of fields,
and sometimes straight through them.
b) The dirt became hard-packed and the grain couldn't
penetrate, allowing birds to eat it up.
2) Stony ground.
a) Not stones like in my yard but bedrock close to surface.
b) Hotbed effect - quick germination, then it withers.
3) Thorns.
a) Weeds always seem to grow faster than what you want
to grow.
b) Even when the tops are lobbed off, they spring back and
overwhelm the main crop.
4) Good ground.
a) It has depth, moisture, and is weed-free.
b) Palestinian farmers hoped to get a ten-fold yield.
c) A 30-, 60-, 100-fold yield is something they could
only dream about, something heavenly.
III. Jesus has more than agriculture on his mind.
A. The astounding productivity of the good soil proves it.
1) Also, Jesus concludes the story by saying those who have
ears should use them.
2) He is challenging us to understand what he is talking about.
B. Parables are not as easy as you think.
1) They are drawn from ordinary life and pull people in.
a) But they are meant to go behind ordinary entertainment.
b) They would lead you to deeper truths about God's
Kingdom.
2) They could also hide the truth from those who were
spiritually dense. 4:12
a) It is important to always ask yourself, am I really
getting what Jesus wants me to get out of this?
C. Parables may not be easy, but they don't have to be hard.
1) They don't require esoteric fantasizing.
a) In the past, people tended to allegorize parables, and
they ended up meaning whatever you wanted it to mean.
b) Parables can contain allegory, where different elements
are given a meaning, but you should not do this if
the meaning is not explained in the text.
2) It is better to stick with the interpretations the Bible
itself gives, and to think how the first audience would
have understood it.
D. The parable of the sower is interpreted by Jesus himself.
1) It is really more about soil than seeds.
2) It is about us, and how we receive the gospel.
IV. What does this story mean on a spiritual level?
A. There are three main elements.
1) The sower.
a) The farmer is not identified here, but in a similar
parable in Matthew 13:37, the sower is identified
as the Son of Man - Jesus.
b) Here, it is probably more general: whoever spreads
God's Word is a sower, whether Jesus or us.
2) The seed.
a) Jesus says the seed is the word of God, the gospel.
3) The soil.
a) The soil is the people who hear the gospel.
b) In Luke's parallel version, the soil is the human heart.
c) Some people's hearts are receptive, and some are not.
B. The soil situations are the focus.
1) Seed on path.
a) Person who is closed to the gospel.
1> Not so much rejection as lack of interest.
2> They feel they don't need to be saved, there is
nothing they need to be forgiven for.
3> Just like the soil on the path, this kind of heart
is hardened.
b) "Movers & shakers" are often in this category.
1> Could it be you? We would think that since you
are in church, you are not someone the gospel
would bounce off.
2> Then again... even religious people can become
cynical and hardened to the truth of God.
c) There can be hope for hard cases.
1> A crisis might jolt their self-confidence.
2> Sometimes genuine love can reach them.
3> It would be a terrible thing to be unreachable...
2) Stony ground.
a) Superficially religious.
1> Jesus says they respond with joy, but are shallow.
2> I like to see an emotional response to the gospel,
but I don't always trust it.
A> I was once at an evangelistic rally for high
school students - dozens responded.
B> How many lasted?
b) Emotions can be genuine, but often don't go very deep.
1> Christians need to be deeply rooted. Col. 2:6-8
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as
Lord, continue to live in him,
7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the
faith as you were taught, and overflowing with
thankfulness.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through
hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends
on human tradition and the basic principles
of this world rather than on Christ.
A> Habits of spiritual nurture.
B> Relationships with Christians that go beyond
the superficial.
2> Jesus warns about lukewarmness - he spits them out.
c) Trouble is the acid test.
1> Genuine faith survives disasters and disappointments.
2> Send your roots down deeper. 4:17
3) Thorns.
a) These want the best of both worlds - spirituality and
pleasure.
1> Two crops are competing for the same soil.
b) It is not just evil that crowds Jesus out.
1> Good, but second-rate, things can have same result.
2> Many well-meaning Christians become preoccupied
with jobs, finances, and families.
A> Their relationship with God suffers.
c) Money trips up many.
Pastor John MacArthur had a man who came to his church
and was one of the leading producers of pornographic
films in southern California.
He confessed Christ and the church was very excited to
hear his testimony.
He was baptized.
Now if you've been a successful pornographer it is not
easy to transition to another profession.
You can't really put it on your resume.
This guy couldn't make any money.
It wasn't long before he was back doing what he did.
It was the deceitfulness of riches.
And he probably never really cleaned out his past.
It was still there, enticing him to come back.
Sermon #65141
The book of James calls this being a double-minded
person.
You never find real happiness.
4) Good soil.
a) Last, in the position of emphasis.
b) This seed can grow and bear fruit.
V. How to be good soil.
A. Hear the word.
1) The gospel can go in one ear and out the other.
2) Process what God is trying to tell you.
B. Accept the gospel.
1) Not just hear it, but accept it and surrender to it.
2) What Jesus teaches about God and life is what I want for
myself.
C. Turn it into action.
1) A true Christian must produce fruit.
a) There is no such thing as a stagnant Christian.
b) You are growing and active, or choking.
2) There are varieties of fruitfulness.
a) Leading others to Christ is obviously implied.
1> How many others will be in God's Kingdom because
of you? Any at all?
2> Do you think you have even reached your own kids?
3> It is a great privilege to multiply your faith.
b) New attitudes and actions could also be included.
1> Christians do more than spread a message.
2> We show God's love to others in concrete ways.
3> We gain discipline in our own lives and become
more like Christ.
D. Which soil will you be?
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
Sermon #65141 “The Parable of the Soils,” Rev. John F. MacArthur, Jr.,
March 15, 1998; Grace Community Church in Sun Valley,
California, <link>.
This and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
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