I invite you to turn this morning in the Scriptures to Mark's, to the Gospel of Mark chapter 4. Chapter 4, we're considering together this morning the first 20 verses in our study of the Gospel of Mark. Tonight we'll come back on Super Sunday to hear the commandment of the Lord. Mark chapter 4, the first 20 verses this morning. this is the word of the lord again he began to teach by the sea and a very large crowd gathered about him so that he 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. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold and he said he who has ears to hear let him hear and when he was alone those around him with the twelve 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 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 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 one 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 60 fold and 100 fold may the lord bless the hearing of his word what criteria do you use to judge uh and hear and listen to the ministry of the word the ministry of the word that's our calling preach the word in season out of season that's that's my mission statement as a pastor that's what i'm called to do we are certainly called to be discerning about what is being preached to us no one doubts that the lord constantly calls us to discernment whether it is faithful to the intention of the holy spirit when it is proclaimed and whether it is as paul said preaching christ and him crucified. But as I have heard sermon critiques over the years and I've listened to them, most Christians would be surprised as to how unbiblical their critique really is. Many Christians listen to a pastor and are fixated on how they feel when they walk out of the message. That seems to be the thing that dominates coming to church today. So it really does come down to the ability of the pastor the ability of the pastor as he's communicating the message in a way that is effective to my emotions that's that's how people think today when they listen to preaching we generally sit as sort of judges and jury and everything right over the sermon i've had all sorts of responses to preaching in the course of my time in the ministry i've heard everything under the sun well today the message just didn't really speak to me I didn't feel very encouraged. There wasn't enough balance of gospel in that one. I feel really guilty about myself in that one. Boy, he was kind of rough today. Or, man, that was great. I get that one. It's like the old Spurgeon line is the handshake out the door when someone walked up to him and said, what an amazing sermon, Mr. Spurgeon. He said, yeah, I know, the devil already told me. We generally sit as sort of the jury and judge to determine what makes for an effective message. And if it spoke to me or the pastor, did he fit the model of what I'm used to today? Or did he miss a word, which I miss all the time? Did he miss a word? Is he proper? And people get up, people come, people go. What happened? What happened? It's fascinating to me how Jesus dealt with this problem. fascinating why do i say that because we just went through last week in mark and this is all very purposeful in his book we just went through a series of responses to his ministry predominantly his preaching and teaching ministry the son of god was a preacher let me tell you and he was greatly criticized last week things were said of jesus were just awful i mean really really they were terrible to study mark presented to us a series of responses to him remember last week his own family looked at his ministry and they had come to the determination you're insane and they said it he's out of his mind so from his own family members he had the designation that he was a madman and they had to kind of try to reel him back in a little bit to lock him back up that was the scene there then came the response of the religious leaders remember where they went further they went well beyond that and they said he's got a demon in fact he's of another spirit that was the way to put out all this popularity that was the way to put out all of this response to jesus's ministry if we can associate it with the work of satan and we could say that what he's doing is of satan we can put this this nonsense out that was a response and you remember last week that jesus really did draw the line there and said listen i will forgive every sin i will forgive every sin and blasphemy against me but that one i will not you you're right up on it you better watch your mouth that was the effect of that that's enough but we know by mark's exposure of the responses that something's not clicking something's not going real well and mark has captured these last responses for us to show us that that even his own family not now now think about this is mary and this is his brothers they will come to believe but at this point they don't and and that should have some kind of effect on us there are people who come to us today who may not believe but tomorrow they will how do you deal with that how do you understand that what what what do we understand by this and the question that comes out in this text and I'm thinking of the disciples here because they are disciples in training they are about to be sent out to the ends of the earth to do this preaching ministry what is Jesus teaching them it's at this moment he is really focused on helping them understand something they need to understand about the ministry and the question can be boiled down to this is the problem jesus or is the problem the people who is the problem here that we're getting this kind of response to the ministry why so much opposition why so many varied responses there's no doubt that in a church of 500 people this morning there will be varied responses to this sermon how do we process that and it's really no different because the new testament writers come along and and they make the the very strong case that when when the gospel is being preached and when when preaching is going on jesus is preaching it's amazing that paul could say this to churches he never visited jesus came and preached to you that was through his servants so we don't think about that, but Jesus is preaching to you right now. And Mark now, in this context, presents to us so strategically the parable of the sower. One of my favorite parables. Always to this day, every time I look at it, it's still somewhat an enigma. There's always something new I'm learning from the parable of the sower. And its main point is to say all understanding of the word being sown. All understanding of sermons, all understanding of his preaching that translates and becomes belief in the heart is a gift of grace. And you're going to understand how much you need that by the time this is done. But he wants to make something really clear here. The problem is not Jesus. The problem is not Jesus. The real problem is not the ministry of the Word. The real problem is the soil of the human heart. The soil of the human heart. That's not to say there can't be bad preaching. There is certainly bad preaching that goes on. I've done certainly my share. But that's not where we start. That's not where we start. Jesus is saying first things first. And he's illustrating this very thing as he goes now and begins to speak this parable to the masses and then explains to the disciples why there are so many varied responses. That challenges us today. It should have the effect of not making us judge the messenger, the messenger firsthand or first, but to first judge the soil of our own hearts as we have come today to hear the word. And we can begin to even ask the question, what have you done to even prepare that soil for the word? So that we should be coming to hear the Word with a kind of humble and receiving heart of the Word. For Jesus says when by His grace, undoubtedly, no denying that, by His grace, it has the kind of effect in the human heart that is lasting. Lasting. And I'm hoping by the end of this sermon to really impress upon you why it's so important and the lasting effect that you should be pursuing. as we come to chapter 4 again we read that he began to teach by the sea he is back in his little pulpit i love to call it his little pulpit it's a boat he's out in the ocean that's the sea there and he's standing and sitting in this boat and great multitudes again have gathered to listen to his sermons now keep in mind this this is again comes strategically right after these responses he's on this wooden boat these masses of crowds have come probably thousands if not ten thousands tens of thousands i mean this is when mark emphasized last time great multitude great multitude he is telling us his preaching drew them in and at this point he does something really confusing at least as i've read it and studied it i i've i've pondered this and i thought this is This is really confusing. If you're sitting there that day, he just begins to tell this parable of the sower. A sower went out to sow in a field and he sees sowing for his crops. Some, he says, landed on the path. They were devoured up by the birds. Some on these stony places. The sun came and scorched it. It withered away. Some among the thorns and the thorns choked out the life of the plant so that it bore no fruit. And then there were those who bore a lot of fruit, good soil. Jesus is obviously emphasizing and illustrating something very powerful here. He's doing something very, just in the whole presentation of how this is being done, proves the very point of the parable. You have to understand that. He's doing what the parable illustrates. As you see, he's in the boat and he bellows out really loud before he speaks. Did you catch that there? In verse 3, in your translation, you'll see an exclamation point. Listen! Listen! What an interesting way to start this, isn't it? Listen. Pay attention. Understand what I'm about to tell you is of immense importance. Listen to it. And then he tells this parable of the sower. And he ends it. And he says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. And we find that he's alone. He dismissed them, Matthew even said. He gets off the boat. He leaves the multitudes. And now he's alone with his disciples. Now everyone should be stopping and saying, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait. You just told them to listen and you didn't explain it. That's a very strange thing to do. Why didn't you explain it, Jesus? Clearly, he calls parables the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. And yet, he's not explaining this one to them. In fact, this particular parable was so important, Jesus said, if you don't get this one, you'll never understand any parable. So, they heard it, but it didn't move to understanding, did it? Now, anyone who really cares to understand is going to have a question. Do any of the Gospels present the multitudes coming back to Jesus and asking, listen, Jesus, you told this parable, but I don't get it. I want to understand it. I really want to understand this parable. Would you please explain this parable to us? Well, yes, we get a few. And I caught something in this particular version, as Mark has presented it, that I haven't caught elsewhere. Not only did the disciples come back and ask this question, But did you notice there that it said that the people who were with them, a group did come back. I don't know how many, it doesn't tell us. It just says there was a group that came back and with the disciples, they wanted to understand this. It bothered them. He said, listen, and they didn't get it. And I think to myself, well, what a beautiful desire that's immediately presented here. We'll come back to that toward the end of the sermon. But Jesus wanted us to understand for generations to read this and his people to understand as his disciples, he made this clear to them what he had just said. And so Jesus essentially says in summary form, before we launch into this, he says this, you need to understand, dear friends, dear disciples, there is a problem with the human heart. Look at all these responses that we've been seeing in the ministry. People running around saying, I'm a crazy man. People going so far as to say, I have a demon committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. You need to know, for those on the outside who have those kind of hearts, hardened hearts, I'm responding to that. I'm responding to that. They may hear me, But that does not mean that they will understand me. This is a privilege of grace that I have done for you. I have spoken, and now I'm going to translate it for you, and now I'm going to move it to understanding so that you really listen and understand it. I'm going to explain it for you. And so here we see that the parable itself and the arrangement of this scenario illustrates the very truth of the parable. You could hear, but you could not listen. Seems like a famous 60s song, doesn't it? People hearing without listening. And that's not Jesus' fault. That's not Jesus' fault. People just heard a powerful story from Jesus. What did they understand by it? Did they understand it? Who came back? and the greatest blessing of grace is his gift when hearing becomes listening and that becomes understanding in the heart jesus confirms that and says right in the midst of this when he looks at these people who came back and he looks at that and he says to you it's been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom but to them it's not been given so that i have the right to exercise the judgment of isaiah hearing they may hear and not hear and seeing they may see and not perceive lest they should come and be forgiven i do have that right look at how they're responding to the ministry well it's at this point it's as if jesus says so let me explain to you how blessed you are to hear and understand let me explain this to you do you not understand this parable he said do you not to which we all should say no one could unless it were explained how then will you understand all parables i'm speaking in mysteries here let me explain to you what's happening in the kingdom i need you to understand this dear disciples as you go out and you take the gospel to the ends of the earth you need to understand this you need to understand this very well what we find is that this parable is an earthly picture of the preaching of the gospel christ himself is the preacher par excellence christ himself is the sower and he is out preaching the gospel of the kingdom as he has come to do the will of his father he wanted to preach mark has told us that from day one he was out preaching for this reason i came forth to preach and as he's casting that seed everywhere he is casting that seed everywhere he was speaking the very word of god to them but why were people rejecting why were people saying these terrible things about him jesus says you need to understand what we're running up against because you're soon going to face this there are all sorts of responses in the kingdom to my word as it goes out my word is sharper than any two-edged sword my word cuts deep my word enters in it never returns void you don't need to think that that that as we are scattering the seed this seems like an incredible waste to you it cuts isaiah 55 and you know it will accomplish what god wants for it but the soils you see represent the human heart so he begins with the first soil the first soil and the first heart he says when i sow the word and it lands along the path where the word is sown when they hear satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in them here i think you can see right in this response of the multitudes right in front of them what he had just said jesus told a great story saying listen when someone begins with that listen and this is the son of god he's saying i've got something really important to say if you hear something and you don't understand something that that speaker says this is a matter of life and death that i'm i'm speaking to you what do you do well you're going to be very persistent to go understand it they all just walked off now people came back to him would you explain this? Would you explain this? Jesus says, there is a kind of hearer in the kingdom whose heart is like a hard surface. That heart is like a hard surface. It's a really calloused heart. And keep in mind, we're talking about people who listen to the Word of God. And Jesus is illustrating something the disciples need to understand. The crowds loved Jesus' stories. they probably said, man, he is the best. He is so interesting. He's good with the kids. He invites them forward. Welcomes the children, talks to the children. Great storyteller. We can almost imagine what people were saying about him. You know, we really like these amazing stories. He is a gripping story. Boy, he's got a great sounding voice. Holds our attention. Look at these powerful things he can do. Sermons packed out. You're going to judge by number. He's one. We like the drama of all this. He's healing. There's a lot of attention here. As one pastor said, I think he's right. We really don't like his application. He's telling us to repent. He's really combative in confronting our lives. It's a little too personal at that point. He's told us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him. Are you kidding me? And now he's thrown the law at us. He's thrown the law and the books at Israel. How dare him make the covenant people condemned? All over the Old Testament, this was described. In fact, I believe this is a direct fulfillment of Ezekiel 33. As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another and to his brother. Let's go get brother. Come, hear the word that comes from the Lord. And they come to you as a people come. They sit before you as my people. They hear what you say, but they will not do it. Behold, you are like to them one who sings songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument. for they hear what you say but they don't do what you say everyone loves to hear an instrument play i'm sure we some would have loved to had a great instrument play today what did that profit you if you don't understand we can imagine the sermon critiques going on in the kingdom they would come up they would listen they could say good sermon they could say bad sermon it really didn't matter because they never really listened to it isn't that something they never took it home to the heart maybe some of us have become such masters of sermon critique and such masters of dissecting and exposing all the problems in ministry today we've forgotten how to critique our own hearts sitting under the word remember rc sprall talked about this the scribes these were these were the theologians these were the ones that had had all the degrees if he didn't fit their paradigm if he didn't fit their model if he was too unorthodox if he was too outside the box in many cases this kind of hearer they just they were so full of anger When they heard it, in bitterness, they walked away utterly criticizing the message. And Jesus says behind that, you'll notice here, is the response of, is the work of Satan. Working to take away any inquisitive questioning of the sermon so that you might want to come back and say, I want to understand this, I want to know this. Working hard to put that fire out. That's the first kind of here. that he talks about in the kingdom. And he goes on and he talks about the enthusiasts in the kingdom. He says, these are the ones that are sown on rocky ground, the ones who when they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy and they have no root in themselves but endure for a while. And then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of word, immediately they're gone. They are gone. They're out of here. There's some topsoil there. The seed grows up quickly. Had a place to go for a bit. And then the sun comes up and it scorches it and it just withers away because it didn't have root. It wasn't firmly rooted. And he explains this by saying, you're going to see, dear disciples, in the kingdom. Here's what you're going to see in the kingdom. There's a type of heart that immediately is excited about the word of God. They are excited about the word, wow, that was great, Jesus. Great sermon. Boy, they are really on fire. Jesus had all sorts of enthusiasts around him, praising him, telling him probably how great the sermons were. But he knew just give it a little bit of time. Enthusiasm wears out. We've heard this. I've heard it a lot in my life as a pastor. Somebody comes in from the outside, they hear the message, whoa, this is my church. Where do I sign up? Sign me up for all the ministries. I'm in. I used to get so excited about that. I did, and I still am. But I know to give it a year. And let's see if that excitement and that fire is still there. Jesus says certain things are going on in the heart of a hearer like that. Their Christianity was only as deep as the emotion that happened at the moment it was new. And they're not there very long. And Jesus says soon because of that word tribulation or persecution comes, He mentions a couple different things here. Tribulation and persecution, and they're gone. As quickly as they were in, as quickly as they are out. There are a whole bunch of different possibilities. He says tribulation because of the Word. There's a whole bunch of things that may go on in the course of one's life. Maybe the marriage starts to fall apart. Maybe the stress of life begins to overtake. Maybe there's tribulation in their lives, and now sitting under the Word all of a sudden, There's a recognition that this isn't so glorious, this isn't so easy, this isn't so, it's just not what I thought it really was. The fabulous news that I heard that Jesus died for me and loves me and now I'm starting to feel really convicted because of this thing going on over here and I don't quite know how to process all of this and I can no longer, and we could go right down the line, I've got to stop dating the unbeliever. I've got to stop getting drunk. I can no longer hide my life. The word has brought a certain amount of tribulation to this person's life as now they've sat there and they've heard it for a while. I mean, this was the rich young ruler who immediately came, right? Immediately came. I'll do whatever you tell me to do. Where do I? Sign up. And Jesus says, really? Have you kept the law? You want eternal life? Keep the law. And he says, I've done it. and jesus says well then go sell all your possession that's a major tribulation of the word for somebody who has the idol of covetousness and loving his possessions and what happened as fast as he ran immediately he walked away sad jesus dealt with it that's the kind that lands he says the hearer that lands in the rocky soil he gives a third kind of here so the one sown among the thorns there 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 you'll notice here the emphasis that thorns choked that word they're they're at time there seemed to be a real interest in the church and the word something's happened something's changed a sort of bitter spirit has overcome the person why why does that kind of spirit happen in a person it's confusing because at one time they would have come joyfully up to the house of the Lord. They maybe even carried their Bibles. There was a hunger. But now the church is just a duty we've got to endure. A duty we've got to get through. It's become really hard to manage. Really, the person wouldn't be here if other certain external factors were not in the mix. Maybe your spouse is pushing you. Maybe your family is seeing you. And Jesus says, I hear her like this, where there's just no interest, just no interest. The word has touched maybe some area of life, and Jesus has cautioned here. We live in such a non-offensive culture, and a pastor has to say and speak to 500 different people who all have different things going on it could be one word that they view as insensitive and they have utterly shut down the message utterly shut it down worries about children distracted by the worries of life or the pursuit of ridness riches and he says these are these are like thorns in people's lives that choke out the life of the word you know jesus told us not to worry. Jesus is explaining that. It's because worry and these thorns, they attack your ability to listen to the Word of God, that it's choking life out of you. How much worry is going on right now? Now, by this point, a little scary, isn't it? It's a little scary. This is the kind of responses jesus was receiving and if i said put up your hand and tell me if you've ever shown these responses to jesus every single hand in this room if you're honest would go up it challenges chris gordon as a pastor as to what kind of here he is as a preacher think about that and at this point we asked do we have a desire to understand the word and to come back would you rather hear his word or watch the super bowl to be practical and you immediately see how superficial we all are in a sense the parable of the sower has left us all undone the parable of the sower has left us all undone we now come to the foot of the cross if i had stopped here and jesus had stopped here and i believe that's the weight he wants people to come with right now what a tragedy in the kingdom that's how big the problem of the human heart is and then i say the ability to hear is a gift of grace the desire of grace is we've always said evidence of grace what did they come back and say explain it would you do that for us jesus then encourages them i think with a beautiful encouragement he says there are those who hear there is a good soil a heart prepared by the Lord those that were sown on good soil are the ones who notice what he says hear the word ready and accept the word Mark chose that particular nuance of accept whereas Matthew said understand the word Mark wanted us to grasp accept the word I think of Eli Eli when his sons and his sons had done that and the Lord was coming down on Israel and someone came to report it to him and Eli said if it is the word of the Lord then it's the Lord's word I accept it and that's why I believe that man was one of the Lords even though he was a failure in the family it's the Lord's word I accept it Jesus says when they hear it and listen it goes beyond the eardrum it goes right into the heart promoting response right kind of response the effect is of course not so hard it does challenge us to ask what kind of hero we are and at this point i want to tell you briefly of something that i did experience in the ministry that i hope encourages you because we're all about immediate fruits and immediate results today And that's the wrong way to look at this. When I heard about a family that I served for years, I can't get out of my head a certain family. It was a family, sports family. The oldest son was an excellent ball player. They were your typical Christian family today. Being pulled every which way, every which way with sports. And they really struggled. They really struggled with all of this. And you know what I watched for eight years as a pastor? I watched that father bring his family, all three or four kids, three kids. And this is not a pitch for the front row. There's only two of them. But they sat in the front row every Sunday. It was always a surprise to me. Morning and evening. Eight years. I recently heard about that family. The oldest son, the pastor told me, has had amazing response to the gospel. He said, you wouldn't believe this, he rushes from basketball practice to our Wednesday night catechism. He won't miss the class. I said, you've got to be kidding. He can't wait for catechism. He's now thinking of ministry. remember when paul was preaching in acts and he looked down and he perceived as he was preaching that somebody had the faith to be healed how did he know because he could see the countenance of that man listening to the word of god this father led his family in those eight years that i was there morning and evening front row his dad reverently listened to that word wouldn't miss boy that's paying dividends now i can't help but to say this is what jesus is saying to us it's that kind of receptive heart to his word that is eager to receive it that is eager to understand it that comes with joy that comes eagerly with humility you may not always feel that i'm not saying that but he says when it's received that way in the course of your lives that has a lasting effect it's respectful hearing it's bowing reverently to his word and you'll see great dividends i i know it's not an automatic train up your children in the way they should go when they're old they will not depart from it that's not an automatic but it is a general truth isn't it it's a wisdom truth when john 6 when when jesus had preached and so offended the multitude that 5,000 walked away. We read of him turning around to his own disciples and he looks at them and he says, remember what he said? Do you also want to leave me too? Remember what Peter said? Lord, where do we go? You have the words of life. That's grace. You understand what a blessed person, if you can say that. I'm not saying you'll be blessed if you hear. I'm saying you are blessed by God Himself if you have a hunger for His Word. It was in the midst of that parable that He told in Luke and Matthew. He said to them, you know, in the midst of all of this bad kingdom response to my word, and we see it all over the world today, He said, but blessed are your eyes for they see, and blessed are your ears for they hear. And that should encourage you today. The real effect of the parable, maybe, is not just to answer why there are so many pathetic responses to Jesus, as if that caught him by surprise. That would all be very discouraging. In fact, as one pastor said, anyone who reads this parable should be surprised by how much waste of seeds are going out. How discouraging, right? Well, Jesus wanted us to understand what's going on. There will be these responses in the kingdom. If it happened to him, it's going to happen today. And the real effect is to say and marvel that Jesus in love and grace spent a lot of time opening and teaching and explaining these things to his people. What do you think he just did right now? He just illustrated and then did it. And so I asked the question to you this morning. Do you love the word? I know all these same responses are in you. that's what repentance is for turning to the lord asking for forgiveness but we should recognize that he took a lot of effort today to teach you he took a lot of effort and has been doing it for thousands of years now to open up understandings you're getting way more than the multitudes of jesus's day he sent you his spirit to guide you in all truth and is committed to take away your dullness and to give you ears to hear because it is the will of God that whoever hears his word and believes it is the will of God whoever believes in the son has eternal life and the Lord said I'll raise him up on the last day have you heard his word maybe you're being tested with that in a very personal way because of all the things going on in your life right now are you hearing his word are you listening to the word are you understanding the word and taking profit from the word if so blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears for they hear Lord we're convicted and rightly so from the pastor on down we have been highly critical at times of your ministry when your intention has been to teach us and train us the soil of our hearts has often been very hard we ask that you would give them hearts of flesh soft hearts and give us again a hunger for your word a delight in your word willing to speak well when we hear it and to first look at what's going on and asking how have we even prepared ourselves to listen to the very implanted word which is able to save us. We've been dull. Forgive us and help us. And by grace, would you bless us, Lord, to give us the same kind of hunger and thirsting for righteousness. And if we're fathers and mothers, would you bless us to think a lot about what our attitude is like before our children. What we're really displaying for the patterns that we set down now will be their patterns in the future unless you intervene. And so may our patterns be patterns that please you. And may our children in faith and hope and love respond. Bless this church in the hearing of the word and bless its proclamation. May they know that you are indeed preaching the gospel to them. In Jesus' name, amen.