And now, Father, as we turn to the ministry of your word, give us ears to hear. Guard us from distraction and hardness of heart. Give your servant faithfulness and clarity, humility and boldness in preaching. May Christ be exalted, sinners called to repentance, believers strengthened in faith, and your people equipped for lives of grateful obedience. Do among us far more abundantly than all we ask or think.

Keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus until that day when faith becomes sight, and we join the whole redeemed church in the presence of the Lamb. In Jesus’ name we pray, and again we say amen. Our sermon text this morning is Mark chapter four, verses one through 20. Mark four, verses one through 20. Listen to God’s word.

And again, he began to teach beside 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 and 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 30-fold and 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 is in parables so that they may indeed see, but not perceive and may indeed hear, but not understand unless 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. Those who 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.

Thus far, God’s word. Please be seated. Well, congregation, Jesus begins this parable with a sharp command here in verse four. Listen, and that’s the whole issue here in this passage is a parable about hearing, not merely hearing sound, not merely attending a service, not merely sitting under preaching. It’s about what happens in the heart when the word of Christ comes. And every soil here in this parable hears in some way. The hard path hears, the rocky ground hears, the thorny ground hears, the good soil hears. But the only one here savingly and fruitfully. And so we place this parable here, Mark, placing it here at a critical point in the telling of the gospel here.

Jesus has healed the sick. He has cast out demons. He has forgiven sins. He’s called sinners. He’s claimed lordship over the Sabbath and confronted hardened religious leaders. The crowds are large, but not all are disciples. His family misunderstands him. The scribes accuse him. Some are amazed, some are offended, some are just merely curious.

And so Jesus explains this mixed response to his ministry here in this parable. If the kingdom of God has come to him, come in him, why do so many reject him? Why do some respond with excitement and then they disappear? Why do others seem interested but they never bear fruit? Why do some receive the word and become fruitful disciples?

Well, the answer is here in this. this morning, don’t listen only for someone else. You know, sometimes we sometimes say, well, if only so-and-so were here to hear this sermon. Well, so-and-so aren’t there. They might listen to it later on online, but they’re not there, but you are. And that is what we have to ask ourselves, Lord, what kind of hearer am I? Jesus says he was ears to hear, let him hear. So notice in the, parable here in the passage here in verses one through nine, that Christ faithfully sows the word.

And again, he began to teach beside the sea and a very large crowd gathered about him. He’s beside the Sea of Galilee. The crowd is so large, he gets into a boat and launches out a little bit so he can teach the people who are standing or sitting on the shore.

This is an ordinary scene and it’s deeply significant. The setting is public, many are gathered, but physical nearness to Jesus is not the same as spiritual understanding. There’s a crowd, but there’s not necessarily disciples. Mark frequently shows us this distinction here. Crowds may press near Christ for healing and interest and excitement or controversy, while other true disciples come near him to hear and receive and obey.

Jesus teaches them many things in parables. Verse two tells us parables, not merely a simple story to make everything easier. To understand, in Jesus’s ministry, parables reveal truth to disciples and they conceal truth from heart and hearers. Thus this passage here, quoting, they may indeed see but not perceive and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. As these parables draw in the humble and they expose the resistant.

Then Jesus says, listen, verse three, behold, a sower went out to sow. Familiar picture to them. In the agrarian world of Galilee, people knew fields and seed and paths and rocks and thorns and harvest. So the sower broadcasts the seed. He sows the seed broadly. Some falls on the path, some on rocky ground, some among thorns, and some into good soil. And the key comes later to all this.

Verse 14, Jesus explains to his disciples, the sower sows the word. The seed is the word of God. In the immediate context, it’s the word of the kingdom that’s being proclaimed by Christ. And more broadly, it is the gospel word, the message of Christ himself. He is the faithful sower here.

He goes out sowing the word. He doesn’t sow entertainment. He does not sow some political agitation. He does not sow human wisdom. He does not sow mere moral advice. He sows the Word of God. And this is a pattern of the kingdom. God’s kingdom advances through God’s Word. It’s also the minister’s calling, the parent’s calling, the teacher’s calling, the witness calling. So the Word.

Do not replace the seed with chaff. Do not substitute personality or cleverness programs, sentiment, moralism, or controversy for the living word. And yet notice this, the same sower, sowing the same seed, receives different results. The problem is not in the seed, nor in the sower, the problem is in the soil. And that should immediately humble us.

The preacher can’t regenerate hearts. The parent cannot make the child’s heart good soil. The elder cannot force fruit. The missionary cannot command the harvest by his own power. But it also encourages us. The seed is good. The word is living. The harvest belongs to God. Much seed may appear wasted, but Christ is not defeated. Some will bear fruit 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold.

So as we ask ourselves the questions of this passage and what it brings up to us, the first one is how do I come to the word? Do you come to sermons as a religious routine? Do you come as a critic? Do you come distracted? Do you come merely to be comforted but not corrected? Or do you come to hear things you already approve? Or do you come to be ruled by Christ?

Jesus says, listen, a hard path may be close to the field and still be hard. A person may be so close to the church, close to scripture, close to sermons, close to sacraments, and still not receive the word. Therefore, prepare to hear. Pray before worship. Ask the Lord to make his word pierce your conscience. Listen for a command to obey, a promise to believe, a sin to repent of, a comfort to receive, a truth to confess. Do not let the sermon die at the benediction. The kingdom comes through the word and therefore take care how you hear.

And then after the parable, the scene changes. And when he was alone, those around him with the 12 asked him about the parables. You see Christ’s word reveals and it judges the heart. One of the marks of true discipleship is that we as disciples don’t understand everything immediately, but they come to Jesus to seek understanding. The crowd hears and may go away. Disciples draw near and ask. Verse 11, to you, speaking to the disciples, has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those outside, everything is in parables.

Understanding the kingdom is a gift. Jesus does not say, ah, you figured it out because you’re smarter. He says to you has been what given spiritual understanding is a gift of God. It is a grace. The secret of the kingdom is not a riddle. For clever folk, it is the truth once hidden and now revealed in Christ.

The kingdom of God has come, but not as many expected it. It comes first, like a seed, not like an army, it comes through preaching before final judgment. It comes in humility before glory. It comes through suffering, rejection, and the cross before visible triumph. So that explains why the kingdom can be truly present in Jesus and yet rejected by many.

And then this quote from Isaiah, so that they may indeed see, but not perceive, and may indeed hear, but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven. That is sobering. You see, in Isaiah’s day, the prophet preached to a hardened covenant people. His preaching exposed their hardness, and it became an instrument of judgment. And Jesus says now, this pattern is being repeated in his ministry. Because parables reveal and they conceal. To disciples, they reveal the mystery of the kingdom. To the hardened outsiders, they leave the truth veiled.

The same word that saves one hearer may harden another. Now, that doesn’t make God unjust. It means that when sinners resist the light, God may judge them by giving them over to their blindness. Be careful. You know, God sometimes gives us what we’re asking for. Lord, leave me alone, okay. I reject your truth, okay. You’re not going to receive it and understand it. You see, hearing the word is never neutral.

Every sermon either softens or hardens. Every encounter with scripture either draws us nearer or leaves us more accountable. That’s especially searching for those who are long exposed to the word. You see, repeated hearing without repentance can harden the soul. You become sermon proof in a sense. The path becomes hard because it is walked over again and again. So a person may sit under faithful preaching for years and become sermon proof.

You know the doctrines, you know the hymns, you know the order of worship, you know how to sound reform. but are you still humbled by the word? Do you still find yourself corrected by God’s word and receiving it? Are you still pierced? Are you still teachable? When was the last time scripture changed your mind, transformed your opinions? When did the word last time bring you to confession? When did you last tremble at a warning of scripture or cling to a promise or repent of sin because God addressed you.

You see, the most dangerous place is not outside the visible church. It may be inside the visible church with an unmoved heart. You may profess the faith, but you do not possess the faith. Cry out to God for mercy. Ask him to give you ears to hear. Christ not only commands hearing, he grants hearing. And all who come to him in this way, he will not despise. He will not reject. He opens minds to understand the scriptures. He gives the mystery of the kingdom by grace.

Notice here in the third place, Christ’s word. exposes false hearing. He explains the parable to his disciples. Do you not understand this parable in verse 13? How then will you understand all the parables? You see, this parable is foundational. It teaches us how to understand the response to Jesus, the nature, the kingdom, and the condition of our own hearts.

And so he identifies three fruitless hearers versus that hardened one, verse 15, 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. A hard path, the seed lies exposed, it doesn’t penetrate, the birds come and gobble it down. Satan, Jesus says, takes away the word in this way. That means the hearing of the word is spiritual warfare. A sermon is not merely a speech. Scripture reading is not merely information. Satan hates the word because the word is the seed of the kingdom.

He snatches it by distraction or forgetfulness or prejudice, resentment, pride, unbelief, or criticism. He does not need to make you hate the Bible if he can make you ignore it. He does not need to make you deny the sermon if he can make you forget it. Some of you hear, but the word is gone almost immediately. You remember the preacher’s manner, a story, a phrase, a complaint, or lunch plans, but not the word itself.

Don’t treat distraction as harmless. It may be one of Satan’s instruments. Prepare before worship. Pray during worship. Meditate afterward. Speak the word with your family. Ask, what did God show me? What must I believe? What must I repent of? What must I do? So don’t merely attend the preaching, receive the word.

Soil type number two, verses 16 and 17, we have the shallow hearer, and these are the ones sown on rocky ground, the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. Well, this looks promising here. There’s immediate joy. There’s excitement. There may be visible zeal.

But Jesus continues, 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. See, the issue here is not the absence of emotion. Joy can be good. The issue is joy without root. There’s a joy of novelty, of personality, atmosphere, relief, or belonging that is not saving faith.

A person may love encouragement, but not correction. Forgiveness, but not repentance. Promises, but not commands. The crown, but not the cross. And the trouble comes, not merely general trouble, but trouble on account of the word. Obedience becomes costly. Confessing Christ brings reproach. Family does not understand. The world mocks. Faithfulness requires sacrifice. And then the shallow hearer falls away. Do not judge your soul only by what you feel on Sunday. Ask what remains on Wednesday. Ask what remains when obedience costs you. Ask what remains when the sermon wounds you. Ask what remains when following Christ brings shame.

True faith is not less than joy, but it is more than joy. It has root, and that root must be Christ himself. You cannot endure unreligious emotion. You cannot endure unfavorable circumstances. You can’t endure on social support. You must be rooted in union with the crucified and risen Lord.

Christ endured tribulation and persecution for his people. He was rejected and mocked and condemned, crucified and buried, yet he rose in triumph. He gives his people root by joining them to himself. So pray, Lord, root me in Christ. Make me steadfast when the heat comes.

And then in verses 18 and 19, hear the divided hearer and others are the one stone among thorns. They are those who hear the word, they hear. This is not someone far from the word, it’s someone who hears perhaps regularly, but Jesus says, 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. Now this might be the most searching for those who are respectable church members. The word is not openly rejected. It’s crowded out. The thorns are the cares of the world.

They might be real burdens, bills, health, aging parents, wayward children, work, loneliness, conflict, uncertainty. And Jesus doesn’t mock these cares, but he warns that cares can choke the word. Anxiety can become a rival preacher. It speaks to you day and night. It tells you what to fear, what to imagine, what to control, what to distrust. The thorns are also the deceitfulness of riches. Riches deceive because they rarely announce themselves as idols. They say, I am your security. I am your freedom. I am your future. I am your importance.

Wealth may not make a man openly wicked, it may simply make him spiritually dull. But it can also occur not only for those who have loads of money, it can also have for those who have very little and that desire for and pursuit of. And then Jesus throws in here the desires of other things, and that’s a broad phase of ambitions, appetites, comforts, entertainments, preferences, resentments, hobbies, and cravings that push Christ to the margins. The result is tragic. It proves unfruitful.

Ask yourself, what is choking the Word in me? Is it anxiety? Do you rehearse your cares more than you pray? Do tomorrow’s imagined troubles devour today’s obedience? Is it wealth or comfort? Has prosperity made you prayerless? Do you think more about preserving your lifestyle than advancing Christ’s kingdom? Do you give sacrificially or merely from surplus? Is it busyness? Do you have time for everything except prayer? Are you too busy to meditate, too busy to repent, too busy to worship with preparation, too busy to serve? Is it respectable worldliness?

You may be orthodox, decent, moral, and church-going, yet unfruitful. The thorny soil may grow leaves. It may look alive, but it bears no grain. Do not make peace with thorns. Cut down what chokes the word. Guard the Lord’s day. Simplify where you must. Turn off what you must. Repent where you must. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Christ frees us from the thorns of this age by giving himself as the better treasure. The way to overcome lesser loves is not to love nothing. It is to love Christ more.

And then, Notice here the fourth soil type, that is word bears fruit and true hearers. But those, verse 20, who 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 a hundred fold. Three marks here of a fruitful hearer. They hear the word, they accept the word, they bear fruit. They don’t merely listen externally. They receive the word as true and authoritative and precious and binding. They welcome it because they welcome Christ.

A number of years ago, there was a bumper sticker with the saying that went around, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. Well, actually, if you could take an exacto knife and cut out that middle statement, it’s stronger, I think. God said it, that settles it. It’s not dependent on whether you believe it or not. It is truly God’s word. But for the believer, we hear the word, we accept the word, we bear fruit. It settles it.

Fruit includes repentance and faith, obedience, love, worship, endurance, humility, generosity, forgiveness, witness, and holiness. Fruit doesn’t earn salvation. Fruit proves that the word has taken root. Notice the variety here, some 30-fold, some 60-fold, some 100-fold. You see, Christ doesn’t despise a 30-fold believer. The measure of fruit varies, yes, but the presence of fruit doesn’t. There is no such thing as a finally fruitless saving faith. Now, some tender believers may hear this passage and fear, what if I am not good soil, my fruit seems so small? Don’t measure your fruit against another believer’s harvest.

Ask whether the word has taken root. Do you grieve over sin? Do you desire Christ? Do you return when corrected? Do you want the word to rule you? Do you bear even small fruits of repentance and faith and love and obedience? You see, weak fruit is still fruit. Small faith is still faith if it rests in a great savior. So don’t look to your fruit as the ground of your acceptance before God. Look to Christ, then ask him to make you more fruitful. And if the word is bearing fruit and you give thanks, you didn’t make yourself good soil.

Understanding was given. Faith was granted. Repentance was worked. Fruit came from union with Christ. So therefore be humble. Don’t boast over others. Don’t despise weaker saints. Don’t assume past fruitfulness means that you no longer need watchfulness. Keep hearing, keep receiving, keep repenting, keep pruning, keep abiding in Christ. Now, this passage is not mere moralism. It’s not simply try harder to be good soil. If that’s all we say, we’ve missed the gospel. You see, Christ fulfills this passage. He is the faithful sower who goes out sowing the word. He is also the living word, the substance of the gospel preached. To receive the word is to receive him. He is the true and faithful Israel.

Israel often is pictured as God’s vineyard or planting, but Israel failed to bear the fruit God required. Christ has come as the fruitful son, where Israel heard and rebelled, Christ heard and obeyed. where we are hard, shallow, distracted, and barren, Christ was perfectly receptive, obedient, and fruitful before the Father.

He’s also the rejected sower. The responses in the parable unfold in his own ministry here. You see, the scribes are hard. Some of the crowds are shallow. Many are choked by fear, comfort, or power, or possessions. Judas is near the sower and yet fruitless.

But none of this means the kingdom has failed. Jesus told us it would be so. Most wonderfully, Christ is the crucified seed who buries the harvest through death and who bears the harvest through death and resurrection. He says elsewhere in John 12, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Christ falls into the earth in death. He’s buried.

He rises and through his death and resurrection, he brings forth a harvest of saved sinners. He atones for our hard heartness, our shallowness, our worldliness, our fruitlessness. By his spirit, he gives new hearts. He defeats Satan. He roots us in himself. He frees us from the thorns of this age. He makes us fruitful. So the hope of this passage is not that you can improve your soil by willpower. The hope is that Christ can make barren centers fruitful by grace. Well, this leaves every one of us exposed before Christ.

If you’re the unconverted hearer, don’t let Satan snatch away the word. Don’t delay while your heart grows harder. Do not be content with temporary interest in Christ. Come to Him. Repent and believe the gospel. Believe Him. Maybe you’re a covenant child. Don’t confuse your mom and dad’s faith with your own. Nearness to the word is a mercy, but you must personally receive Christ.

Parents, we can’t make our child’s heart good soil, but we can sow faithfully. Keep sowing. Keep sowing the word. Pray for the Lord at the harvest. Maybe you have drifted away from the Lord and you’ve willfully backslidden from him. Ask what has choked the word. Don’t feed thorns, return to Christ. And for us all, are we a fruitful church? Are we merely hearers or do we receive the word and bear fruit in worship and love, holiness and prayer and evangelism, generosity, reconciliation and endurance? We must take care how we hear. Did the word penetrate? Did it take root? Did it survive trial? Did it overcome thorns? Did it bear fruit? Christ still sows his word, Satan still seeks to snatch it, trials still test it, thorns still choke it, but grace still makes good soil, and the word still bears fruit.

So listen to the Savior’s command, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Come to Christ, the faithful sower, receive his word, trust his cross, abide in his life, and ask him to make you fruitful, 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold, all to the glory of God.

Let’s pray together. Oh, Lord, our God, the living God who speaks your word and spirit, we thank you for the word of the kingdom that is sown among us today. We confess that our hearts are often hard, shallow, divided, and easily choked by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things. Have mercy upon us for the sake of Jesus Christ, the faithful sower, the living word, the crucified and risen savior.

Do not let the evil one snatch away what has been preached. Do not let trouble or opposition make us stumble. Do not let anxious cares and worldly comforts or lesser desires choke the word and leave us barren. By your Holy Spirit, make our hearts good soil.

Give us ears to hear, faith to receive, repentance to turn from sin, and grace to bear fruit with patience. Root us deeply in Christ that we may endure in the day of trial. Prune away whatever hinders our growth. Make us fruitful in holiness, love, worship, prayer, obedience, witness, generosity, and perseverance.

Bless every hearer according to need. Awaken the careless. Soften the hardened. Deepen the shallow. Free the anxious and worldly. Encourage the weak believer. Restore the backslider. Save the lost. Strengthen parents and teachers and elders and all who sow the word. they may labor with patience and hope. We thank you that the harvest belongs to you. Your word shall not return empty, but shall accomplish your purpose. Therefore, make us, make this congregation, a fruitful field for your glory. Cause the word of Christ to dwell richly among us and bring forth fruit 30 fold, 60 fold, 100 fold. And we ask all this in the name of Jesus our Lord and God’s people say, amen.