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If you would remain standing, our scripture text for this evening is taken from the Gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 4, verses 1 through 20. We’ll be doing a new sort of topical series based on the parables, so we’ll have a selection of different parables. We won’t always be reading consecutively through. This evening, we’re gonna be in the gospel of Mark. Mark chapter four, verses one through 20. This is the word of God.

Again, he began to teach beside the sea, and a very large crowd gathered about him. So they got into a boat and sat in it on the sea. And the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. And he was teaching them many things in parables. And in his teaching, he said to them, listen, behold, a sower went out to sow.

And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path. And the birds came and devoured it. 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. And when the sun rose, it was scorched. And since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seeds fell into good soil, growing up and increasing and yielding 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold.

And he said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, those around him with the 12 asked him about the parables. And he said to them, to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those outside, everything else is in parables, so that they may indeed see, but not perceive, and may indeed hear, but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. And he said to them, Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word, 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.

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground, the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 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. And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 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. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit 30-fold and 60-fold and 100-fold.

This ends the reading of God’s word. Let’s pray. Our great God and Father in heaven, you who have breathed out this word. inspired Mark long ago to record these words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you preserve them that we may read them. And now, Lord, we ask for your spirit, that your spirit might give us life, that we might be awakened, made alive to the truth that is within your word. be blessing to us and might be glory and praise to you. We pray that you’d be with the preaching and the hearing by your spirit for Jesus’ sake. Amen. You may be seated. I’ve titled this message, How Will You Understand All the Parables, which is a quote, as you may have seen, from Jesus asking his disciples, And for the children, you can be listening for the words unexpected, reality, and warning.

Well, what is your favorite sandwich? One of my favorite sandwiches is called a Reuben, a Reuben sandwich. But have you ever heard of a Markin sandwich? Well, a Reuben is something you can eat. It’s got corned beef and sauerkraut. But a Markin sandwich is not something you can eat.

It’s a term that theologians use to describe one of Mark’s favorite literary devices. Mark doesn’t like to… On the side, the way John does, of parenthetical remarks. Instead, Mark shows us things in his gospel by where he places them in connection to each other.

Mark will take two passages which are clearly related, the bread of the sandwich, at the beginning and the end, and then stick a third passage in the middle, which is the meat and cheese, or PB&J if you prefer. in order to highlight something that is going on. Just like how in a sandwich the bread is necessary, but it’s not usually the most exciting part of the sandwich. The outside passages are there to help highlight the part that is in the middle.

Another thing that you might sometimes hear scholars talk about is called a chiasm. This comes from the Greek letter chi, which looks like the English letter X. Now one way to look at the letter X is to see it as two arrows that are pointing towards one another, that get bigger, that get smaller towards the center.

So that the main point of a passage is right in the middle. And the scripture does this all the time. The main point of a chiasm or a Marken sandwich is what’s going on in the middle of a passage. And it can sometimes be highlighted by putting parallel or at least similar stories on either end to highlight the middle part. Now that’s a long way of explaining that we can tell by the setup in this passage that Mark is showing us that these middle verses in our passage are the most important.

Verses one through nine, we get the telling of the parable. This is the first slice of bread. And then we get the meat in verses 10 through 12. And then verses 13 through 20, the explanation of the parable. And this is the second slice of bread. Now the meat of the sandwich is meant to help us understand the whole of the passage.

As I said, I thought it would be helpful to do a mini-series here at Grace on parables between now and when I leave for the Boardwalk Chapel of the last week in May. When I get back, I hope to do a series on the book of Samuel in the fall. And so even though we’re looking at, I’ve chosen a series of parables, many of them from Matthew’s gospel, which reveal important things about the kingdom of God. But to start off our series in parables, I think we need to start with this, even though it may be a familiar parable, because Jesus says it’s the Rosetta Stone. in verse 13.

It’s the key to all the other parables. Key to understanding. So it’s got something in here which is important for us to understand the rest of the parables. So this evening we’re gonna look at our passage and we’re gonna find three lessons from this passage. Number one, the unexpected purpose of parables. Number two, a reality check for sowers, and number three, a warning for soils. Number one, the unexpected purpose of parables. This parable is explained by Jesus to be the code breaker for his other parables. Verse 13, he says, if you don’t get this parable, how will you understand any of the others?

We often think about parables as good illustrations. A good illustration engages the listener. It makes the idea more interesting and better understood. Sometimes pastors are taught to look to Jesus as the model for using good illustrations, particularly in his parables.

But there’s a little bit of a problem with that advice. Because when Jesus explains in our passage his reason for speaking in parables, It doesn’t fully line up with that. Verses 10 and 12. Verses 10, 11, and 12, Jesus says to his disciples, to you has been given, but to those outside, so that they may not see, they may not perceive. Jesus gives a quote from Isaiah chapter six, verses nine and 10, which is why we read the whole chapter earlier in our service.

And he said, go and say to this people, keep on hearing, but do not understand. Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes. Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn, and be healed. Isaiah was hoping for a hopeful message. He said, hear me, and send me to your people. And God told him, your message will make them harder, will make them not respond. In fact, it will lead to the exile when houses will be uninhabited. And then notice Mark’s version in our passage in verse 12, so that they may indeed see and not perceive. They may indeed hear, but not understand, lest they turn and be forgiven.

The Gospel of Matthew also includes this same parable in Matthew chapter 13. And in Matthew chapter 13, when we find this same parable, we find Matthew quoting it slightly differently. Matthew chapter 13 verses 14 and 15. In this case Matthew quotes Jesus saying, indeed in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says, you will indeed hear but never understand, you will indeed see but never perceive.

For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear. And their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them. When Matthew quotes this passage, he highlights the emphasis on the hardness of heart already present in the hearers. While our passage in Mark, highlighting the sovereignty of God in hardening the hearers. And this has led many people to be uncomfortable.

Some commentators have even tried to say that there must be a mistranslation or faulty manuscripts with Mark. But there’s no reason, there’s nothing to suggest that we have anything less than what Mark actually wrote. There’s nothing to suggest that the words here are any different than what Mark intended to write, inspired by the Holy Spirit. And so what we have before us in the Gospel of Mark is what Mark, inspired by the Spirit, intended to write down for our instruction today. One commentator puts it, he says, Mark is unwilling to relax the tension between divine sovereignty and human will in the accomplishment of God’s will.

Rather, he holds them in juxtaposition. Juxtaposition, of course, is a word that simply means to place side by side. It’s usually done to highlight a comparison or a contrast between two things. A black silhouette might be juxtaposed on a white background. Picture of a tree in winter might be juxtaposed against a picture of that tree in full leaf in summer.

So the commentator is saying that instead of completely resolving the question of how God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the hardening of hearts relate to each other. Instead of explaining that completely, Mark is simply placing them side by side.

Scripture takes both of these two truths and asserts them. God is sovereign and in charge of all that exists and comes to pass. And simultaneously, Scripture asserts the man bears responsibility for his thoughts and words and actions. And Jesus tells his disciples, after he tells the parable to the crowds, that the parables have a kind of weeding out effect on purpose. The crowds come and hear Jesus.

They hear him speak about earthly realities with perhaps above average insight, but nothing more. Their curiosity is not piqued. Have you ever talked to someone who’s very polite and nice, but never asks a single follow-up question? You tell them about your life, your recent struggles, your interests, and they offer a few affirmations or platitudes, but they don’t ask you any questions about what you just said, and it can feel like they don’t care. That’s what this crowd is like for Jesus. Very well told. Glad that was on your heart. Smart guy. And they walk away. They utterly lack a hunger to know more. That is part of the problem. It’s only Jesus’ followers who come asking, what do you need?

So Jesus explains the twofold purpose of parables in this passage. He says, the parables, they will remain an impenetrable barrier to those who content with their sin and with their way of life without a concern for God. For them, it will be an impenetrable barrier. They can’t hear the echoes of eternity which ring through the parables which Jesus tells. But for others, the parables will be like appetizers, prompting greater hunger, spurring them to seek out answers, to find out what those echoes of eternity mean, which is why the disciples came and asked Jesus afterwards. There’s a sense in which parables put eternal truth just out of reach. And for some, this prompts seeking Jesus out, But for others, that’s an insurmountable barrier.

When my dad was just a toddler, he is told this story. His parents would put food in front of him that he didn’t want to eat in his high chair. And he would feign inability to reach it. Holding his elbows back against his back, he would cry out, can’t reach, can’t reach. And this is what those who do not have ears to hear are doing. They can understand the words. They refrain from seeking further meaning. In the face of eternal truths, they yawn and move on.

So this is why Jesus concludes his parable with this exhortation. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Let’s take a look at the meaning of this parable as we move on to number two. I believe this parable has two audiences in mind. It’s meant to be heard by those who are sowing seed and also by those who have been planted in. So first, number two, a reality check for sowers. The parable begins with a sower.

Now, sowing is slightly different than planting. We have plenty of gardeners here in our congregation that are doing lots of planting right now. With planting, you dig a hole or hoe a furrow, and you place the seed directly onto the soil and carefully cover it back up with soil. But sowing is much faster, which is what you do over large areas. you simply scatter it over a wide area.

I worked in landscaping for six years, and twice a year we would put grass seed down. We would put it into these large rolling buckets, and we would roll them around, and they would be scattering the seed all over the ground. In order to get to the very edges of the sidewalk and the road, we always ended up scattering some onto the sidewalk and the road. Otherwise, you wouldn’t get to the edge. But when we would transplant flowers, we were much more intentional. We would dig out carefully and plant each plant in a particular spot.

But when you’re sowing grass seed, for instance, or other crops, the goal is simply to make sure you get all the ground covered. And the parable is simple. A sower is sowing. He’s throwing seed out, and inevitably, not all of it is hitting perfect soil.

The first soil doesn’t even show a hint of germination. It might as well be concrete. The second soil shows immediate promise with rapid growth, but it turns out to be too shallow to even withstand sunshine. And the third soil is deep enough to withstand sunshine and is growing well, but it can’t take the competition, so it doesn’t make it to harvest either. The fourth soil described avoids all three problems, and the grain makes it to full harvest, with the caveat that results may vary.

Jesus explains that the seed in the parable is the Word of God. And the soils are different groups of hearers. Now, in some ways, this parable might be a little bit meta, as they say. What I mean by that is that the parable is portraying the reality of which it is a part. Jesus is telling the parable while he’s acting the parable out. Jesus is clearly a sower. He is sowing the word of God among the crowds. And we’re meant to see that Jesus teaching the crowds is like him casting seed indiscriminately on all kinds of ground.

And we know that he had a variety of responses from his hearers. So the first application that we could make from this parable is to understand that when Jesus teaches, there’s going to be all sorts of different responses that are a reflection not of the word that he is teaching, but of the prior state of the hearts of the listeners. The word is what grows, but it only grows in certain contexts. And the different responses are not a reflection of the word, but of the hearers, which are not all equal. But I don’t think, of course, we’re meant to restrict the meaning of the parable to Jesus as the only sower. Jesus was telling this parable to his disciples, whom he would send out very shortly to go preach as well.

And I think we can safely extend this to all the followers of Jesus, even us today who are called to sow the word. And what does sowing the word look like? Well, I think it means taking opportunities that you easily have. and even looking for more opportunities that arise to speak the gospel truth into people’s ears. That might be preaching on a street corner for some people, but it might be discipling your children at home, encouraging someone at church with the truth or the promises of God’s word. being ready to share the most amazing news, that sinners can be reconciled to God through Jesus’s death and resurrection, even to the cashier at Walmart.

It’s the truth of God. It’s the word of God, which grows into a harvest, producing fruit in people’s lives. They don’t just need good advice, a comforting ear. They need to be born again by the living and abiding word. So don’t be bashful about sharing the news that could completely transform someone’s life. But I think Jesus is also giving us a reality check in this parable.

It’s interesting that it’s four different kinds of dirt. The active character is a sower who sends something life-containing into different kinds of dirt. The sower does his part to make sure the dirt gets the seed. But there’s no call for the dirt to change itself here or to fix itself. The dirt just is the way it is. And the sower doesn’t control whether the dirt is good or not. His role is to simply make sure all of the dirt gets some seed on it.

This is the sad reality of evangelism. We can’t change people. Our role is to give them the seed. As far as it depends on us to make sure the seed lands on them. But we aren’t in charge of the growth. And the difficult reality is that only some people who hear the gospel will respond in faith. But in this sad reality is a hidden encouragement. The sower isn’t doing anything to the ground. He’s not plowing it, he’s not gathering rocks, or even weeding it. He’s just sowing the word and leaving the results.

With eternity at stake, for those who don’t know Jesus, it’s easy to feel undue pressure. about our role in evangelism or sharing the word with others. We can think it all depends on us and how we perform. Did we use the best technique? Were we eloquent enough? Did we relate to them? Were we clear enough? All of those are fine questions to ask and ways to improve.

But they shouldn’t overshadow the reality that in the right soil, God’s word will grow. It’s not your job to fix the soil. It’s merely your job to sow the word. Even on the good soil, it doesn’t all produce extraordinary results, as we saw. Some 30%, some 60%, and some 100-fold. You don’t have control over what condition the soil is in. You should care about people, of course, but at the same time realize that when sowing the word, there will be all kinds of different soil. In some people, the word will grow in surprising ways. While others, it will flounder and die. Don’t be discouraged. And don’t be burdened with a responsibility that isn’t yours. You do your part. Sow the word and trust God to do his.

And having looked at the reality check that this parable gives to sowers, thirdly, we’ll now consider what it says to hearers. Because I think there’s an additional application for hearers. Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. So number three, a warning for soils. Although the only active character in this parable is the sower, I think we should consider it to be a secondary application to those who hear the word. In verse nine, we have Jesus, his concluding exhortation, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

And furthermore, the focus of the middle of this passage, the meat, as we saw of the Marken Sandwich, is about different kinds of hearers, those that hear but don’t understand. So I think we’re meant to hear Jesus’ teaching here and ask, is it I? It’s meant to provoke introspection. What soil am I? Verse 15 explains the first soil. The sown word lands on this soil, but it’s hard and packed down. Before it has a chance to germinate, the seed is snatched away by outside evil forces.

Just an example, I’ve had times at the Boardwalk Chapel where I’m sharing the gospel with someone and their friends will suddenly come up and just literally drag them away out of the conversation. And sometimes that’s all they need to get out of the conversation and they’ll cut and run. Don’t discount the role of spiritual warfare in your sharing the word. whether it be to an unbeliever or someone within the body. Don’t discount the role of spiritual warfare in sharing or hearing the word. There’s an expression, in one ear and out the other.

This hardened soil doesn’t keep the seed long enough to even mull over it. These people paused for a second for the words to enter, but before they can even think about it, they keep moving. and they don’t think about it anymore. Verse 16 and 17 explain the meaning of the second soil. This soil actually sounds the most promising at first. None of the other soils are said to receive the word with joy.

I’ve had experiences of sharing the gospel with people who were very appreciative. They excited, they seemed to be tracking with everything that I was saying. I got their number. I texted them to help them get them into a church. And after a couple of responses, they ghosted me. There’s nothing wrong with receiving the word with joy. That’s a good thing. But for these people, their emotional reaction to the good news didn’t go any deeper.

And when the emotion changed, when action was required, or when difficulty appeared, these people are out. There are some churches today that are just trying to achieve that initial spark, believing that the initial emotion is enough to sustain people all the way for life. People need deep, difficult truths from God’s Word to sustain them through the difficulties of life. They need to be told that following Christ is hard, but it’s worth it. Through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of heaven. That’s what Paul told all new believers in the churches that he was planting.

18 and 19 explain the meaning of the third soil. This soil is different from the others because there’s nothing wrong with the soil itself. It isn’t packed down and it isn’t full of rocks. The problem comes from what else is trying to grow. in that soil alongside the good word. These people aren’t phased by the difficulties in the Christian life. They know following Jesus will be hard, but worth it. They know church, Bible reading, and prayer are important. They’re just really busy.

They’ve got a lot of other things going on. There’s a lot to be worried about. It says, the cares of the world. and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things. I think this third soil is the most scary and the most common within churches today. We live in a busy world. We’re surrounded by, more than ever, things that keep us distracted. Cares of the world.

This keys us into the fact that worries and fear is one way that God’s word can be prevented from bearing fruit in our lives. So we need to be careful that worrying about our own or others’ problems doesn’t take our eyes off of Christ. Keep yourself close to the word and to those that can sow it into you. The deceitfulness of riches.

When my wife and I were first talking about buying a house, our first house, a number of years ago, my wife had a high concern that it not become a distraction from Christ and ministry. I was eventually able to persuade her that owning a home doesn’t necessarily conflict with our ability to follow Christ. But I think it would be good if more of us were asking that kind of question. What are we doing if we have these concerns?

The Bible never says that money is inherently evil, but it has terrible warnings that the desire for it and the pursuit of it can easily derail Christians’ lives. If we’re always convinced that we don’t have enough money, then we’ll be worrying about will be deceived by riches. And if we are convinced that we don’t have enough money to worry about being deceived by riches, we may be deceiving ourselves. Because Jesus doesn’t specify the amount of money, just that the pursuit of it can be deceitful. Paul warns Timothy, that in pursuit of wealth, some church members, fellow ministers that he had served alongside with, had pierced themselves with many pangs. And then Jesus says, desires for other things is a thorn in this soil. It chokes out the word.

I remember when I was in middle school, maybe starting high school as well, I remember being completely obsessed with these Lord of the Rings miniature models, tabletop gaming, for some of you that may know that. And my brothers and I, we would buy them, we would paint them, we would craft different terrain and set up battles with each other and with our friends. And I also remember in middle school distinctly realizing one Sunday in church that during the whole sermon, my brain had been constantly thinking what I was going to do with those models. I was envisioning the paint colors I would use, running over the rules and the strategy that would work best and be able to win the battle that time. All I could think about was what I would and I realized I had a problem. Jesus knew that many good things can be a distraction. Satan’s favorite way to keep us from praying is to remember all of the good things that we need to be doing.

So don’t let the competing weeds in your heart get bigger than the Word of God. Either the plant of the Word of God will dominate, or the weeds will dominate. Keep an eye on the weeding, on the weeds that try to grow in your heart, because you cannot afford to neglect the weeding.

Then verse 20, Jesus lays out a posture that characterizes the good soil. He says, the good soil hears the word and accepts it. God’s word bears fruit in the hearts of those who don’t just let it pass through their ears, but they embrace it into their hearts. When the word of God is received and embraced, it’s powerfully fruitful. Just as we notice the application to sowers, we see the juxtaposition, the laying side by side, God’s side by side and man’s responsibility in this. It’s God’s Word, the seed that bears the fruit, that grows into maturity. He sovereignly oversees the growth in the good soil. But the good soil, it embraces, it accepts that powerful seed. Our role is experientially active. We actively choose to embrace the Word of God in our lives. And yet what is planted and what grows is of God. And even the condition of our soil is granted to us by God.

And this gives us good reason to rejoice, to see that God would have given us grace to be that good soil. to not only hear the Word of God, but accept it and believe it. That acceptance, which we would call faith, is not something we can produce by our own desire, but it is something in which we are experientially active. The Bible commands us to believe. Logically, God must give us the faith to believe and embrace God’s Word in our lives, and as a result, We find God to be believable and trustable.

So let’s be the good soil. Let’s do that with the word from God even this evening. Listen, hear, accept, and bear fruit. And if you want to bear fruit, of course, there’s only one way to do that. You embrace the word of God sown in your heart. And then he will cause the life of Jesus, the righteousness of Jesus, and the holiness of Jesus to be a reality in your life.

Amen. Let’s pray. Lord Jesus, we thank you for being the good sower and the sovereign God who cultivates the good soil. Lord, we thank you for the grace you have given that we might receive and accept your word, receive and accept you as our only savior, as our life. Lord Jesus, we ask that if there are any, tonight, or who hear this message, that you might grant them to be that good soil that might bear much fruit from hearing and believing your word. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. In response, let’s turn now to Psalm 273. Break thou the bread of life. Let’s stand and sing M273.