And again to God's Word in the
chapter where we read in Mark chapter 4, since we were in this
chapter this morning also, I want us this evening to consider this
parable of the sower and his seeds and the soil. The sower
and his seed and the soil. the first 20 verses of the chapter. And we're told what the parable
is, of course, by the Lord himself as he begins to explain things
to his disciples. At verse 14, the sower says,
Christ soweth the word. We have it in Luke's account,
Luke 8-11. Now, the parable is this, the seed is the word of
God. This parable is not only recorded
here in Mark chapter four, we also have it in Matthew, Matthew
13, and in Luke chapter eight. And we have on a previous occasion
looked at the parable as we have it recorded there in Luke's particular
account, but we have this repetition, we have a threefold reference
to these words, so I thought it would be profitable after
what we were saying this morning to consider this theme of the
parable of the sower, his seed, and the soil, the gain. As I
say, we spoke this morning from the words that we have here in
verses 11 and 12, as the Lord there speaks of the significance
of his parabolic teaching. He says to his disciples, unto
you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but unto
them that are without all these things are done in parables,
that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they
may hear and not understand. lest at any time they should
be converted and their sin should be forgiven then. We spoke then of the mystery
of the kingdom of God and I spoke of what that mystery of the kingdom
is. It's equivalent to the gospel in chapter one. We read how the
Lord Jesus comes into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of god's and the gospel is that's rights Mystery that has been
revealed with the coming of the Christ. Without controversy,
Paul says, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. What remarkable truths are revealed
to us when we come to consider the significance of all that
Jesus Christ is and all that Jesus Christ has done. It's a mystery. But in the parables
we see how in many ways the truth is being veiled, veiled from
so many. I think afterwards the question
was put in the parables is there a concealing as well as a revealing. There is certainly a revealing
in the gospel but there is this concealing. And the The majority,
the vast majority, do not see. And that's the purpose of Christ's
teaching. He speaks of them that are without.
That seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they
may hear and not understand. How discriminating the ministry
of the Lord is. It's to his own disciples that
he explains and expounds the significance of the parables. As we're told in verse 33, with
many such parables spake he the word unto them as they were able
to hear it, but without a parable spake he not unto them, and when
they were alone he expounded all things to his disciples. He expands it only to the disciples. But what does it all concern,
this mystery of the Kingdom of God, this mystery of the Gospel? It's interesting how there seems
here to be such an emphasis upon the hearing of these things. He says in verse 9, He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear. And again, In verse 16, he speaks
of those that have heard the words. In verse 18, we have such
as hear the words. Again, in verse 20, such as hear
the words. Verse 23, if any man appears
to hear, let him hear. Such an emphasis then upon the
importance of hearing the words, the teaching of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we know that it is faith
that cometh by hearing. Hearing is that sense that God
primarily employs in the bringing of faith into the soul of sinners. It's the things that we hear,
it's the preaching of the gospel. And I was thinking even with
these virtual services that we're able to hold on Zoom, the Word
of God is being heard. You might not be gathered together.
We might see each other as you were on the screen, but we're
not in each other's presence. But we do still have this opportunity
of hearing. And our comfort is that God himself
has appointed that sense. The importance of the hearing
of the word, and the coming of faith, and the mixing of faith
with what we're hearing. Well, here of course we read
in the parable of different types of hearers. And there are, I
suppose, four types of hearers. We're going to consider those
four types, but really, ultimately there are just two types. Ultimately, there are those who
hear and believe, and there are others who hear and they might
at times appear to believe. But there is no enduring, either
shall endure to the end, says Christ. The same shall be said. Let us consider the various type
of hearing that is being spoken of. The wayside hearer is what
the Lord speaks of, first of all, in the parable. Verse 3, Hark! And he says, Behold,
there went out a sower to sow, and he came to pass, as he sowed,
some fell by the wayside. And the fowls of the air came
and devoured it up. And then the Lord explains the
significance of that. In verse 15, These are they by
the wayside. where the word is sown. But when
they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the
word that was sown in their hearts. What type of hearing is this?
Is it not careless hearing? Immediately, what was sown is
taken away by Satan. And then we all, of course, have
to examine ourselves whether there are not occasions when
that's the manner of our hearing. We hear and really we receive
nothing at all. It's taken away by Satan. It's interesting what he said
concerning these careless hearers. They really have no understanding
of the word of God. That's the word that's used in
Matthew 13. and verse 19 concerning this
particular parable. It says there, concerning the
wayside hearer, he understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one and catcheth away the words. They have no understanding and
The word that is used there to understand, it's one of those
compound words and it has the idea of putting things together,
examining things, making a comparison we might say. Now we need, when
we hear the word of God, to desire something of that spirit that
we read of in Acts chapter 17 concerning the Bereans. Remember
what we're told with regards to those people, they were more
noble, it says, than they are Thessalonica, in that they received
the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures
daily whether those things were so. They were not careless here
as those Beryllians. No, they received the word with
such readiness of mind and they compared what they were hearing
with the scriptures. They had that sort of understanding
then, making comparison, putting things together. There was nothing
careless about them. They thought upon those things
that they were hearing from the Word of God. But their In verse
four in the interpretation, in verse 15, the Lord explains the
danger, the great danger of being the wayside hearer, the careless
hearer, having that word immediately snatched away by Satan himself. And then the second type of hearer
the Lord speaks of is the stony ground hearer. And he speaks
of such in verse five. Some fell on stony ground, where
it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang up, because it had
no depth of earth. But when the sun was up, it was
scorched, and because it had no root, it withered away. The interpretation. Verse 16. These are they likewise which
are sown on stony ground, who, when they have heard the word,
immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves,
and so endure for a time. Afterward, when affliction or
persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. What does the Lord say then concerning
these? They endure but for a time. The stony ground has no depth.
They receive the seed of the Word of God, but there's no depth.
They only endure for a little while. They seem to have faith
in the Word, but it's not enduring faith. And doesn't the Lord himself
say, He that shall endure unto the end. the same shall be saved. And we're reminded then of those
solemn passages that we find in Hebrews, such as Hebrews 6. You know the passage there of
verse four, it is impossible for those who were once enlightened
and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers
of the Holy Ghost and have tasted the good word of God and the
powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew
them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the
Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame. What sort of
hearing is this? It's that superficial hearing. There's no depth. There's no
reality there. It is but a temporary reception
of the Word of God. And though it is made so clear,
there is no root in themselves, it says in verse 17. Very different
to a man like Job, We're told concerning Job that the root
of the matter was in him. There in Job 19.28, the root
of the matter, he says, is found in me. Or is the root of the
matter within us? Are we those who know what it
is to receive that engrafted word and implanted words. Is
it that that has been set deep in our souls? These have no roots
and yet they seem to receive the word. It says here at verse
16 that immediately they receive it with gladness. Or in Luke's
account, they receive the word with joy. But you see, that initial
reception is dangerous. Obviously, if they're receiving
it immediately with gladness, it would indicate that there's
no conviction of sin, there's no realization of what they are. As sinners, what their fallen
nature is, it's full of unbelief. They're able to receive the Word
so quickly, so spontaneously. But that's not a healthy reception
of the word of God. Isaiah exhorts, break up your
fallow ground. And when the Spirit himself comes,
what does he do? He convinces the world of sin,
of righteousness, of judgment. Oh, there is not then that immediate
receiving of the word with joy when the Lord begins with us.
He brings us to a realization of what we are, gives us some
understanding of what our fallen nature is, what our sins are.
They have no roots, these stony ground heroes. And again, we're
told that they're lacking in moisture. If we compare the three
accounts, we're told this there in Luke 8 and verse 6, concerning
the stony ground, it lacked moisture. It lacked moisture. There was
no divine watering of the Word of God. There was no relunction
of the Spirit of God in their reception of the Word. The miniature
of the Spirit was wanting, and how vital that is. It is the
Spirit Himself who first gave the Word, who must bring the
Word to us and apply the Word in us, and open up our understanding
and move our wills and touch our hearts. or no moisture, no
unction of the Blessed Spirit, and so ultimately there is no
depth to them. Verse five, it has no depth of
earth. There's a shallowness, a shallowness
that is exposed ultimately, and it's exposed in the midst of
trials. As we're told, The end of verse
17, when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately
they are offended. Where there is real faith, there
is the trial of fact. And the trial is that that proves
the reality of the fact. And the stony ground here, never
is that one a true believer, religion is but a superficial
thing. the wayside hearer, the careless
hearer, the stony ground hearer, the superficial hearer, and then
the thorny ground hearer. And as we come to examine the
thorny ground hearer, we see here is one that we might say
is a worldly hearer. And this hearer is spoken of
in verse seven, some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up
and choked it. and it yielded no fruit. And the interpretation, verse
18, these are they which are sown among thorns, such as here
the word and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness
of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the
word and it becometh unfruitful. So I said, really, there's only
two types of hearers here in this passage. And we're dealing
with a group, these first three, that are really all the same
sort of hearers. They're not true hearers and
receivers. And there's a sort of progression
here. The first, the wayside hearer,
does not receive the seed at all. It's snatched away immediately
by sight. The second, the stony ground
here, appears to receive that seed that was sown, but it's
superficial, there's no depth to it. And then with this third
type, the thorny ground, there does seem to be a reception of
the seed that is sown. But what does it say in Luke's
account, Luke 8, 14? It says concerning the thorny
ground hearer that he brings no fruit to perfection. He brings
no fruit to perfection. But there's a certain progression
with these different hearers. There does seem to be, we might
say, some improvement as we go through these three types. But
considering this third one, this worldly hearer, What do we read
of? We read of the cares of this life. The cares of this life. The preoccupation with the things
of time. What does the Lord say in the
Sermon on the Mount as he speaks there in Matthew chapter 6 and
verse 25? Therefore I say unto you, take
no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on, is not
the life more than these, and the body than the raiment. Our life is not just the transitory
things of this world. The believer is one who is aware
of that. Well, we look not at the things
that are seen, says Paul. For the things that are seen
are temporal, the unseen things are the eternal things. And if we have a multitude of
possessions, when it comes to the end, none of them can be
taken with us. We leave all the things of this
world behind us. So we're not to be preoccupied
with the things of time and the things of sense, the cares of
this life. We're not to be worldly minded
in that sense. Nor are we to be ignorant of
the deceitfulness of riches. That's what he speaks of here
in verse 19, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches. How riches deceive, how men come
to trust in their possessions. How we can so easily misunderstand
the ways of God, the dealings of God. The Psalmist has to acknowledge
that I was envious of the foolish, he says, when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked. How the child of God can be deceived. What is the child of God to do?
Is to rest in the Lord, is to wait patiently for him. is to
not fret himself, fret not thyself because of evildoers, says the
Psalmist. Or to be those then who see that
there are deceptions. How the world, the riches, the
possessions of the world deceive us. Satan is the great deceiver
himself. But then also in this world we're
to be aware of the lust of other things. or as it is in Luke's
account, the pleasures of this life. No man can serve two masters,
says the Lord Jesus. He cannot serve God and mammon. For we are not to be those then
who are so bound up with the things of the world. Love not
the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of
the world. And the world and its lusts,
they all pass away. But he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever. Well, we need then that we should
be those who do not fall into the category of any of these
types of hearers. We're not those who are wayside
hearers or stony ground hearers or those who receive the word
into thorny ground. three quarters in of the characters
that are being spoken of do not find any true profit in the Word
of God. But I want us finally to turn
to the good ground hearer. The good ground hearer that's
spoken of in verse 8. Thou that fell on good ground,
says Christ, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased
and brought forth, some thirty, some sixty, and some an hundred."
And then again the interpretation, verse 20, "'These are they which
are sown on good ground, such as hear the word and receive
it and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some
an hundred." Well here is that proper seedbed that has been
properly prepared. Break up your fallow ground,
says Jeremiah, and sow not amongst thorns. And the ground needs
to be thoroughly prepared, thoroughly broken up. And then what will
be the consequence? Well, there will be that faithful
hearing of the word, and there will be that fruitful hearing
of the word. And what is faithful hearing?
Well, what does it say here in verse 20? Such hear the word
and receive it. That's faithful hearing, not
only to hear it, but also to truly receive it. Again, it's interesting to see
the difference in the other accounts. in Matthew it's in chapter 13
that we have this parable and there at verse 23 it says of
the faithful hearer that he heareth and understandeth he heareth
the word and understandeth very different to the wayside hearer
or in Luke's account Luke 8 and verse 15 they hear the word and
they keep the word oh how is it then that they that they receive
it and understand it and keep it. But it all has to do with
the condition of the heart. It all has to do with the heart. That's where the word must enter.
That engrafted word that we read of in James, or it could be the
implanted word that is able to save the soul. It enters into
the very depths of the man's being. And in Luke's account,
we read of the honest and good hearts. They receive it and keep
it in an honest and a good heart. Oh, there is that that is sincere
when we think of a heart that is honest. And we need to be those who are
Israelites, indeed, God's true spiritual Israel. Israelites
indeed, in whom there is no guile, no pretense. O God, preserve
us from all hypocrisy, how we live to prove what our heart
is by nature. It's deceitful above all things.
It's desperately wicked. Who can know it? I, the Lord,
search the heart. I try the range to give everyone
according to the fruit of his doing, says the Lord. and we need the Lord to show
us what our heart is. We're told by the wise man in
the book of Proverbs, the preparation of the heart in man is of the
Lord. Well, we must ask the Lord then to come and to deal with
us, and to deal with our hearts. We think of how David was moved
to pray to God after he sat for, oh, what a sinner that man was,
how he was guilty of the most gross sins, adultery, murder,
lies. And when he's brought under real
conviction of his sin, what does he say to God? Creating me a
clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. We need that clean heart, that
honest heart. And we have the promise to plead,
we have the promise of the new covenant. What does God say concerning
that new covenant, the gospel of the grace of God? And as I've
said in these parables, the Lord Jesus is simply expounding gospel
truth. And the promise runs there in
Ezekiel 36, 26, a new heart. A new heart also I will give
you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an
heart of flesh. The faithful hearer is that one
then who has been blessed with that new heart, that honest heart
that receives the words and doesn't only receive it but
understands it and keeps it. But then also, there in Luke
8, 15, it says concerning this good ground heaver that they
receive it into not just the honest heart but the good heart.
A good heart. And what can we say of that?
What is the good heart? Is it not that contrite heart?
And isn't that what we really see in David in Psalm 51? He doesn't only ask God to create
in him a new heart, a sincere heart, that heart that is wholehearted
in its desires and seekings after God. He also goes on to acknowledge
the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Or what do we know of a broken
heart? The spirit of true contrition,
that grieving over our sins, that spirit of real repentance,
that evangelical repentance. as we see what the horror of
sin is, and we see it, of course, not so much in the law. Law and
terrors do but harden all the while they work alone, but a
sense of blood-bought pardon soon dissolves the heart of stone. We see sin really in Christ,
in the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he
had to bear the contradiction of sin as the wrath of God against
himself, and why? Why he dies to atone for sins
not his own, or to be those who are truly of a good heart, a
contrite heart, a broken heart, to be those who are truly humbled
before God. I like that little statement
that Joseph Hart makes in that preface to his hymns, where he
writes of his own experience and draws such profitable lessons
from the way in which the Lord taught him. He says a whole-hearted
disciple can have a little communion with a broken-hearted Lord. Or
with those who long after that real fellowship with the Lord
Jesus Christ. But we must be those then who
are broken-hearted sinners. The good, grand hearer, he is
a faithful hearer. The word comes to him, the word
is profitable to him. We know that that's true of God's
word. All of it is given by inspiration of God and it's profitable. For
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
That the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished unto every good
work it sees. And we need to embrace it in
its totality. Not just to embrace those exceeding
great and precious promises, but to love the precepts. To
long after that holiness of life, a life of obedience to all the
Lord's commandments. His commandments are not grievous
if we're those who are faithful hearers of His work. And so besides
The faithful hearer, when we think of the good ground hearer,
the spiritual hearer, he is also a fruitful hearer. These are they which are sown
on good ground, such as hear the word and receive it and bring
forth fruit. Some 34, some 60, some 100. Now, there are different degrees
of fruit. There are different degrees,
of course, of growth in grace. That shouldn't surprise us. Some
are going to be more fruitful than others. But all the fruit
comes from the same source. As the Lord says, through his
servant Hosea, the profit from thee is thy fruit found. All
our fruit comes not from ourselves, not from our fallen sinful nature,
it all comes only from the Lord. And what does the Lord say again
there in Isaiah 14? I will be as the Jew unto Israel. He shall grow as the lily and
cast forth his roots as Lebanon. I love the figure that we have
there. We have the Jew of the Lord descending upon Israel. And in Israel, God's spiritual
people, they grow. They grow as the lily. A little plant in many ways.
And yet, though they grow as the lily, they cast forth their
roots as the cedars in Lebanon, those great cedars, with roots
that strike deep, deep into the ground. And this is how we become
fruitful as we're more and more crowded in the Lord God himself. As we more and more know that
gracious ministry of the spirits, our fruit only comes from him.
Or doesn't Paul speak of it there when writing to those Galatians? Remember the words that we have
in Galatians 5, verse 22? The fruit of the Spirit, he says,
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law,
and they that are of Christ have crucified the flesh with the
affections of lust. If we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit. or we must walk in the Spirit
if we would bear those fruits of the Spirit. And He is always,
of course, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, and makes
us know and feel our utter dependence upon Christ. Christ says, without
me ye can do nothing. Or we can do nothing of ourselves.
When He speaks of Himself as the Vine, and his disciples as
the branches. Every branch that beareth fruit,
he says, concerning God's dealings, every branch that beareth fruit,
he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. And I'm told
that if you have a vine, the best way to make it fruitful
is to cut and to cut it back And this is how God makes his
people, a fruitful people, when he deals with us in the ways
of discipline and chastenings and testings. Oh, we are bidden to bring forth
fruits with patience, literally with endurance. Be the challenger
unto the end. O God grant then that we might
be those who are these good ground hearers, these spiritual hearers,
these faithful and fruitful hearers of the Word of God. The Lord
says here at verse 23, If any man have ears to hear, let him
hear. And he said unto them, Take heed,
what ye hear. where we need to be discerning
hearers of the Word of God. We need that spirit of the Bereans
to bring everything back to the touchstone of Holy Scripture. In that sense, you see, don't
just accept it and believe it because I say it, or that any
preacher says it. No, we are to go constantly,
always to the Word of God, desiring to be discerning hearers. but ought to be those who are
truly hungry healers, desiring that sincere milk of the word
of God, that we may be growing and growing in grace and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Well, the Lord
be pleased to bless his word to us tonight.