Let us turn to Mark chapter 4. I've entitled my message today
an important question. An important question. I'll give
us a question in just a few minutes. Mark chapter 4. And he began to teach by the
seaside, and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so
that he entered into a ship and set in the sea, and the whole
multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many
things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, hearken,
behold, there went out a sower to sow, and it came to pass as
he sowed, Some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came
and devoured it up. And 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. Some fell among thorns, and the
thorns grew up and choked it. and it yielded no fruit. Another
fell on good ground and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased
and brought forth some 30 and some 60 and some 100. And he said unto them, he that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that
were about him with the 12, ask of him the parable. And he said
unto them, 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 sins should
be forgiven them. And he said unto them, know you
not this parable? And how then will you know all
parables? The sower soweth the word, and
these are they by the wayside where the word is sown. But when
they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, taketh away the
word that was sown in their hearts. And 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 but for a time. Afterward, when affliction or
persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are
sown among thorns, such as hear 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. And 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. And he said unto them, Is a candle
brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and not to be
set on a candlestick? For there is nothing hid which
shall not be manifested, Neither was anything kept secret, but
that it should come abroad. If any man have ears to hear,
let him hear." An important question. As we study this parable today,
I'm convinced that the most important thing for each one of us is to
ask ourselves, what kind of an hearer am I? What kind of an
hearer am I? I pray that you, along with myself,
that all of us will ask the Lord to show us today what kind of
a hearer we are. What kind of an hearer am I? And I have five divisions in
the message. First, the Lord Jesus spoke to
a great multitude. I want you to see that in verse
one. The scripture says, and he began
again to teach by the seaside and there was gathered unto him
a great multitude. The multitude was so great that
he had to leave the house in which he had been teaching and
go there to the seaside. And the multitude was so great
he had to go into a ship so that he could set and teach from the
ship those on the seashore. Now I mention this, the Lord
Jesus spoke to a great multitude. I mention this not so much to
emphasize the number, not so much to emphasize the number
of the crowd to whom he was speaking, but the quantity or the quality
of the multitude. Not the quantity, but the quality
of the multitude. Recognize that not everyone he
was speaking to was there to hear the word of God. Some were
there, no doubt, just to see his person. They had heard of
him. And out of curiosity, they came
to see this man named Jesus. Made quite a stir in Galilee
and Judea at that time. Some came just out of curiosity
to see him. Some came because they hoped
to see a miracle. No doubt, they had heard that
he had worked miracles healing various persons. Some came to
see a miracle. Some came just because they wanted
to witness a miracle. Some came to be healed, no doubt.
They wanted to experience a miracle, a healing miracle, a physical
healing miracle. And then there were those who
came, no doubt, just to find fault. The religious rulers,
they had come down from Jerusalem, we know that already, and questioned
him before. And so some came just to find
fault. So the multitude, he spoke to
a great multitude, but the point I want to emphasize to all of
us here this morning is, not everyone was there in that multitude
to hear the word of God. Many were there for different
reasons, various reasons. And in this multitude, there
would be wayside hearers. There would be those that he
described in this parable. They were wayside hearers. There
would be others who would be stony ground hearers. There would
be others in that multitude who would be described as thorny
ground hearers. And yes, thank God there were
some in that multitude who were good ground hearers. So that's my first point. The
Lord Jesus spoke to a great multitude, but let's remember the multitude
was made up of various individuals who came for different reasons
other than to hear the word of God. The second division is the
Lord Jesus spoke in parables. Notice that in verse two. It
says, and he taught them many things by parables. Now Mark does not give us as
many parables as Matthew does in the parallel passage. But
Mark, along with Luke, they do give this parable, and it was
the first of the parables that our Lord spoke. the parable of
the sower. Matthew tells us that after he
spoke the parable, that his disciples asked him the reason. Why speakest
thou unto them in parables? You've got this great multitude
here to hear you, now why are you speaking to them in parables? Now Mark, he simply says, if
you notice in verse 10, the 12 ask him the parable. But his answer, his answer is
the same. If you look in Matthew, you look
in Mark, you look in Luke, his answer is the same. Why speak
ye unto them in parables? Well, his answer in verse 11,
he said unto them, 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 sins should
be forgiven them. And he said unto them, know you
not this parable? And how then will you know all
parables? Now Matthew inserts this in that
answer there. The answer is the same in Matthew,
Mark, and Luke, but Matthew inserts this in the narrative there in
Matthew, and that is that this answer, what our Lord told when
he was asked, why do you speak to them in parables? Our Lord
told them that this was a fulfillment of a prophecy in Isaiah. a fulfillment of a prophecy. It was prophesied unto the Lord
that are concerning the Lord rather when He came that He would
speak in parables so that seeing they would not see and hearing
they would not hear. Now I want you to look back with
me to that prophecy in Isaiah chapter 6. Keep your places here
in Mark chapter 4 but turn back with me to Isaiah chapter 6.
And this is one of those chapters that we love to read, and it's
such a blessing, but a problem, as I see it is, we just get so
overwhelmed with the beginning of this chapter that most of
the time, we don't read through the chapter. We don't continue
to see what is said here. We get so overwhelmed, I know
I do, with the way the chapter begins, Isaiah chapter six. In
the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon
a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings, with
twenty covered his face, and with twenty covered his feet,
and with twenty did fly. And one cried unto another and
said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth
is full of his glory. And don't we love as preachers
to preach and speak about the holiness of our God. And so many
times that's just about as far as we get in this chapter. Holy,
holy, holy, cried the seraphims one to another. And we know the
God with whom we have to do is an awful, an awful God in the
sense that He is a holy God, a terrible God. Now, I understand
that that word terrible and awful has changed its meanings, but
you find that word when the King James translation was made, and
it just speaks of the awesomeness, the majesticness of the Lord
God Almighty. Holy, holy, holy. And the post of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried. and the house was filled with
smoke. Then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because I am
a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean
lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
Anytime God chooses to reveal himself to us through his word,
Or as he revealed himself to Isaiah here in a vision, the
result is always the same. I am a man of unclean lips. And the lips are unclean because
the heart is unclean. In other words, you cannot come
into the presence of this holy God and not know that you are
undone. You're undone. if you were to
stand before this holy Lord God, apart from Jesus Christ, you're
undone. And Isaiah, he experienced that. But let's read on. Woe is me, for I am undone, because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts, Then flew one of the seraphims unto me,
having alive coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs
from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth
and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity
is taken away, and thy sin purged. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
altar, isn't he? It is through his work that our
sin is purged, that our iniquity is put away. But let's read on. Also, I heard the voice of the
Lord saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then
said I, here am I, send me. Many a missionary sermon's been
preached from that text. But let's read on. And he said,
go. and tell this people, hear ye
indeed, but understand not. See ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people
fat, make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert and be healed. Then said I, Lord,
how long? How long am I to continue preaching
this message? How long? Until the cities be
wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without men, and the
land be utterly desolate. This prophecy was fulfilled through
the ministry of Isaiah. He was called, and he was sent,
and he preached to his generation. There were prophets that followed
him. And this prophecy was fulfilled through those prophets preaching.
And notice it is to this people, this people. Do you notice that
there in verse nine? And he said, go and tell this
people. Now, what people is he talking
about? He's talking about Isaiah's people. He's talking about the
nation of Israel. the physical descendants of Abraham. Go and tell this people. This
prophecy was fulfilled through the prophets. Now I want you
to turn to John chapter 12, and I hope you will turn to these
passages and see this for yourself as well as hear it. But this
prophecy was fulfilled also through the ministry of Christ when he
was here in the flesh preaching the gospel to this people. Remember
he said, I'm not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. He was a minister to the circumcision,
the Jews. This people, notice here in John
chapter 12, beginning, I believe, in verse 35. Then Jesus said unto them, Yet
a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the
light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whither he goeth. While you have light, believe
in the light, that you may be the children of light. These
things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. Now listen to John's comment
here, verse 37. But though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the
saying of Esaias, that is Isaiah the prophet, might be fulfilled
when he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom
hath the arm of the Lord been revealed. Therefore they could
not believe because that Esaias, Isaiah said again, he hath blinded
their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see
with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted
and I should heal them. These things said Esaias when
he saw his glory. I saw the Lord high and lifted
up when He saw His glory. These things said He says. Now
listen, follow with me. This prophecy was fulfilled through
the ministry of Isaiah and subsequent prophets, Old Testament prophets,
through the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ when He was here
in the flesh, and yes, through the apostles. Look with me in
Acts chapter 28, the very end of the book of Acts. Let me set this up for us. has agreed to meet with the leaders
of the nation of Israel that live there in Rome on this particular
day. They came to his house where
he was a prisoner in Acts chapter 28 and beginning with verse 23.
And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him
and to his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom
of God, persuading them concerning Jesus both out of the law of
Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening. And
some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed
not. And when they agreed not among
themselves, they departed after that Paul had spoken one word. Well spake the Holy Ghost by
Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people,
and say, Hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand, and
seeing you shall see, and not perceive. For the heart of this
people is wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes have they closed, lest they should see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart.
and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known
therefore unto you that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles,
and they will hear it. Now please remember this. When
we read that God hardens a person's heart, all God need do to harden
a person's heart is just to leave that person alone. That's all. Just to leave that person alone. We sing that hymn sometimes,
written by Fannie Crosby. The story behind that hymn goes
that she was in a revival meeting years ago, and it seemed like
other people in the audience and the congregation were being
blessed that God was visiting them. And her heart was hard,
her heart was cold. And she went home and wrote those
words, pass me not, oh gentle savior. While on others out calling,
do not pass me by. That's all God need to do to
anyone to harden their heart is just pass them by. What an
awful, awful thing for God to pass a person by. Jesus said, while you have the
light, believe in the light, that you may be the children
of light. I tell you, it's a serious matter.
I don't know if I can impress this upon us as much as I would
like to, but it is a very serious matter to set under the preaching
of the gospel the truth, Christ and Him crucified, which is the
power of God unto salvation, and not bow, not believe, not
submit to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It's a serious matter. And no doubt there comes a time,
at least in eternity, when this world is ended for you, for me,
there will be no more hearing of the gospel. When we leave
this world, if we are not righteous, we will be unrighteous throughout
all eternity. We will be under the wrath of
God, separated from God, separated from all goodness. There's none
good but one, that's God. There is no goodness. Apart from
God, all goodness that is in this world, even by lost people,
is a result of God's goodness. But in eternity, in hell, separated
from God, from all goodness. And that not for just a day or
two, but for all eternity. Here's the third division. The
Lord Jesus, back here in Mark chapter 4, if you will, the Lord
Jesus declared that gospel knowledge must be given. It must be given. In verse 11, here he told his
disciples, unto you it is given to know the mystery of the gospel,
mystery of the kingdom of God. A person must be born from above
to see the kingdom of God. The new birth is the work of
God. But let me explain something.
Let me emphasize something rather. The new birth is the work of
God and it is a work that he accomplishes using his written
word. That's the reason Paul said for
the gospel of God is the power of God unto salvation. That word
power, the dynamite of God, how God comes as the Word of God
is preached and proclaimed, and the Word comes with power to
a person's heart. It must be given. Salvation doesn't
come by decision, but it comes rather by revelation. It must
be given. That's one of the offenses of
the cross. It's not a matter of how smart
you are, what your IQ is. It's not a matter of any of those
things. It is to whom the Lord will show
himself merciful and reveal himself in. But he uses his word. Of his own will, James chapter
one, of his own will, beget he you, beget he you with the word
of truth. I want you to look in 1 Peter,
1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 and verse 23. Peter, writing to believers,
said, being born again, not of corruptible seed. What was that
sower in the parable? What was he sowing? He was sowing
seed, right? When a farmer plants, he plants
seed. And the seed is the Word of God,
the written Word of God. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. This Word's never going to change.
You know, people make light of the Word of God, the written
Word of God. This Word is never going to be
changed. The scripture says it is settled
forever in heaven. What God has said is true today,
just as it was when He said it. And it's never going to be untrue. It's the incorruptible Word.
It cannot be corrupted. Not God's Word. Being born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God which liveth, and this word is alive, it's sharper than
a two-edged sword. I can't explain it, but I've
experienced it, and I know some of you have too. The preacher
was preaching, and maybe it was like water off a duck's back
to everyone else, but not to me. And I just pray that there's
someone here today that God is speaking to, that this Word is,
this living Word, this incorruptible Word is like a double-edged sword,
that it cuts both ways. For all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth. This is your life, friend. Here
it is. Young person, old person, this
is your life. It's like grass. Grows up in
the morning, cut down in the evening. That's how short your
life is in this world. Even if you live to be old, an
old age, it's like yesterday. It's like a shadow. It's like
the fog in the morning that you see and by mid morning it's gone. That's your life there. Seek
ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. But the word of the Lord, verse
25, but the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is
the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Now fourth, let's go back to
our text. Fourth division, the Lord Jesus
describes the four types of hearers. First, they're wayside hearers.
They have the word fall upon them, but they have no interest,
little or no interest whatsoever, and it's soon gone. And they
don't understand. Not only would the word just
leave because they're unconcerned hearers, but they have a great
enemy called Satan, and he will do everything immediately, immediately
to snatch the word out of your heart. to take that word, that incorruptible
word, out of your heart, a wayside hearer. And then there's a stony
ground here. These are casual hearers by the
wayside because our Lord does say they receive the seed. They
at least give some mental assent to the truth, to the gospel.
They have some historical understanding of the gospel, but their heart
is still like stone, stony ground here. Word must come in power, must come in power. These are
stony ground here. Stone, the heart is unbroken.
Oh yeah, I've done a few things wrong. Oh yeah, I've made mistakes. Everybody makes... No, no. No,
no. We're talking about sinning against
God Almighty. That's a terrible thing. That's
an awful thing to offend God. How are you going to be reconciled
unto Him? This is not your mama, this is
not your daddy that you can deceive, that you can play on their sympathies
and heart strings. No, this is God Almighty who
is of pure eyes than to behold iniquity. Stony ground here. His heart, yeah, he believes
some things, he recognized some things, but his heart is still
heart of stone. No. No feeling of conviction,
no feeling of sinfulness, just, oh yeah, we all made a few mistakes
in life. You've met people like that,
haven't you? You may be here like that. You just excuse yourself. Oh, we all do it. Everybody does
it. That's true. That doesn't take away the sin. That doesn't reconcile you to
God. Then there's this third group of heirs, these thorny
ground heirs, and no one would deliberately plant seed where
there's sure to grow up thorns, because thorns will grow up. The thorns will choke the word
of God. And in this case, it is riches
and the lust of the flesh and things like that. And before
long, the thorny ground here, he's gone. But aren't you glad? There's some good ground here. Now, good ground doesn't just
happen. It doesn't just happen. You know
that farmer, he doesn't just go out there when it's time to
plant and just start sowing seed. Oh, no. That property, that land
has to be prepared, has to be plowed, has to be disked, whatever
they do. And God the Holy Spirit works
in the heart of his people, gives a new heart. In fact, Jeremiah
said, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. Who can know it? But in the new
birth, according to the new covenant of grace, God takes out that
heart of stone and gives a heart of flesh. And the wonderful thing
about the heart of flesh is it's pliable, and God writes his law
on it. He writes his gospel on it. And
you believe. You believe in Christ. Three
things said about these good ground hearers. First of all,
they hear the word of God. Second, they receive the word
of God. And third, they all bring forth
fruit. What is the fruit? That's important,
isn't it? What is the fruit of these good
ground hearers? Well, it is the fruit of the
Spirit. It's not the fruit that our flesh
can produce, our old man. It's the fruit of the new man
by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. It's love, joy, peace,
longsuffering. We live in a world, don't we?
Believer, child of God, don't you long for a time when to be with the Lord when there's
nothing but love, a city of love. You know, you cannot watch the
news and see two professionals, both experts in whatever field,
and they can't agree. They can't agree. Won't it be great, won't it be
wonderful to be with the Lord when there's nothing but agreement? No disagreement ever again. And our agreement will be praise
unto the Lamb that was slain and by His blood has redeemed
us. Oh, love, joy. This is a fruit
of the spirit, peace. We long for peace, don't we?
Some people are just contentious. They just love contention. They're
always trying to stir up strife and argument and things of that
peace, the fruit of the spirit, peace. Gentleness. goodness, faith,
meekness, self-control, temperance. The Lord Jesus said, I am the
vine, you are the branches. He that abideth in me bringeth
forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. The last point, but before I
mention the last point, Let me ask that question again to myself,
and I pray you ask it of yourself. What kind of a hearer am I? What kind of a hearer am I? When you walk out the door in
just a little while, I hope you will all, we will all be able
to say, by the grace of God, I'm a good ground hearer. And
if I'm not, I want to be. God, have mercy on me. The last point, just in closing,
I want you to look at these words. The Lord Jesus revealed this
important truth about the gospel. In closing, he compared the gospel
to light. And he declares his will in explaining
the parables to these disciples was, He said, you don't bring
a light. You don't bring a candle. This
is back when candles were the main source of light. They didn't
flip a switch, did they? But you don't light a candle
and stick it under the bed. You don't light a candle and
put a bushel on top of it. No, no. You light a candle to
give light so that everyone in the room shall have light. And
our Lord is speaking to these apostles, these 12 disciples,
who later, he said, you are the light of the world. This gospel
is to shine and has shined and continues to shine around the
world where God sends the truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. They
were to shine as lights in the world, preaching with much more
clarity The gospel in this dispensation that you and I live in. Much
more clarity than the gospel that was revealed in those shadows
and types through the law in the Old Testament. Much more
clear. And it's so clear, isn't it?
God's son came into this world as a man. And he took our sins on himself
and died on the cross to satisfy God's justice. And he rose again
the third day, showing that his work was accepted. He had satisfied
God. Believe. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. and thou shalt be saved. What kind of a hearer am I? Now, we're going to sing a hymn
before we are dismissed. I want to say this before we
sing also. Thank the Lord. This evening,
two of our young people, Latir Banks and Mario Lopez, they wish
to confess the Lord Jesus Christ in baptism. So that's what we
will do this evening after the service. And you may be here
this morning and you believe, you believe that Jesus Christ
is the son of God. And yet you've never confessed
that in baptism. Tonight would be a good night.
It would. It'd be a good night to do it. Water's already in the pool.
We'll turn the heater on in just a few minutes. Why don't you speak to me after
this service? Amen? Amen. All right. We're going to sing number 500.
When the roll is called up yonder, number 500. And let's stand and
sing.