Studies in the Gospel of Mark
The Parable of the Soils
Aim: To sow four different responses to the truth of the Gospel.
Text: Mark 4:1-20.
Introduction: We often refer to this passage as the Parable of the Sower, but In many ways it is more about the soils than the sower; perhaps we should call it the Parable of the Soils. This is the first of the so-called “kingdom parables”, and it is also the best known, so you may feel we are on very familiar territory tonight.
It is often said that a parable is an “earthly story with a heavenly meaning”, but that is really not an adequate definition. Perhaps it would be better to say a parable is “a physical illustration of a spiritual concept.” I think that is really what we are trying to say with our first definition. A parable is a comparison, or a figure. It’s an illustration placed alongside a truth. An object lesson, which usually draws upon some common observation in life. It is often a fact of preaching that people will remember the preacher’s illustrations long after they have forgotten his sermon. And Jesus peppered his sermons liberally with illustrations from every day life. His hearers would have been more than familiar with the imagery of the sower sowing seed, and yet, though the illustration used is a vivid one to us, it was originally given in that format to cloud the truth to some. See verses 11-12.
Have you ever wondered about those verses? I have. They seem to be contrary to the purposes of the Saviour. But remember this, spiritual truth comes only to those whose minds are illuminated by the Spirit of God. I am sure that such illumination comes to every man at some point. The Bible says Jesus is the light of the world that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. But how a man response to that light determines whether he receives yet more light or God chooses to leave him in darkness. Which brings us back to our text. Why didn’t Jesus want some of His hearers to grasp the full import of His Words?
Remember in studying the Bible context is king. Some of His hearers had condemned Him as a demoniac. They said, “He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.” (Mark 3:22). And what was Jesus response to that? It was to warn of the unpardonable sin. These men, by the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost had damned their own souls beyond all hope – now the light of the gospel was withdrawn from them.
Now in this parable, we see three elements: the sower, the seed, and the soil.
I. Who Is The Sower?
A. In the O.T. God likens Himself to a sower – see Jeremiah 31:27
B. The sower is identified by Matthew as being the Lord Jesus – Matt 13:37
II. What is The Seed?
A. Well it is quite evident the seed is the Word of God
1. See Mark 4:14
2. The seed is the Word of God: inerrant, infallible, and inspired.
3. Consider the power contained in just a little seed.
a. If I were to hold a few apple seeds in my hand, there would be the possibility of an entire orchard.
b. Within the acorn is the potential of a mighty oak tree. 1Peter 1:23:
(i) “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
(ii) Illus: not long ago they found a seed deep within a pyramid in Egypt. It was estimated to be 3,000 years old. Just for the fun of it they planted it to see if it would grow and reproduce, and it did!
(iii) That’s one of the interesting things about seeds, is that they can store for a very long time the potential to germinate.
b. The Bible is the seed, and in it is amazing potential.
B. The magic formula of the sower is to sow the seed plentifully everywhere.
a. If you aim at nothing you’re sure to hit it!
b. We must try and try again, over and over, all the time!
c. We mustn’t allow seed sowing opportunities to pass by us.
(i) Don’t wait to be led…God has already led!
(ii) Don’t say I’m looking for an open door…the door is wide open until one day very soon when God will shut it, and then no more sowing can be done!
d. We should carry gospel tracts with us everywhere we go, and hand them to friends, family, work mates, or leave them in restaurants (with a tip) and hairdressers, barbers, hospital. Everywhere!
(i) If we want to reap, then we must sow plentifully…
C. We must sow passionately…that’s where the tears and the burden come in.
a. The seeds only spring up where there is a genuine concern for the lost – Psalm 126:5-6
b. People will never care how much we know until they know how much we care.
D. Plentifully, passionately… and patiently… Galatians 6:9
a. We shall reap in due time; we’ll reap if we ‘faint not’. Don’t give up.
b. Illus: farmers don’t plant on Monday and expect to reap on Monday, or even next week or next month.
c. Our job is to just do our job, and sow the seed and trust the results to God!
d. Besides, we often will never know the results of our witness…I believe we will have some surprising discoveries in heaven!
E. So in this parable, there’s no problem with the sower, the Lord Jesus is perfect and the seed, the Word of God is powerful, BUT why doesn’t everyone get saved?
a. Why do many lost people hear the gospel and walk away lost?
b. Evidently the problem has to be with the soil.
III. The Soil
A. The soils in this parable represent different groups of hearers, as there are four types of soil, so too there are four types of hearer.
1. The hearers receive the Word into their hearts – Mark 4:15, and it here the seed is cultivated.
B. Verse 4: “And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.”
1. The “wayside” is the common path across a field, it is ground that is so frequently trodden under food that it has become hard and virtually impenetrable.
2. It is ground so hard, that the seed lies on the surface making a ready meal for birds that snatch it away.
3. This soil is representative of the INDIFFERENT heart.
a. This is a hardened heart.
4. According to the words of Jesus such a heart is easy prey for Satan, in this parable the “fowls of the air” represent the work of the devil in snatching the Word away – see verse 15.
a. Illus: Pharaoh’s heart – no sooner had he heard from Moses, or even experienced a plague, than he cast all the thought of it aside and continued as before.
5. So the good seed of God’s Word does not take root in a hardened heart.
C. Verses 5-6: “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.”
1. If the first heart was indifferent this soil represents the heart that is IMPULSIVE.
2. Here the seed falls on shallow soil, there is insufficient depth to allow it to germinate, and soon the sun scorches it. It has no root system, and dries up and withers away.
3. This is pictorial of one who makes an impulsive decision who even make a profession of faith.
a. Maybe it’s an emotional decision… but there’s no depth or root to it, it is what is sometimes referred to as a response to ‘easy-believism’.
b. Illus: Alka-Seltzer Christians: a lot of fizz at first but soon they fizzle out.
(i) Illus: Lady who made a profession in response to a chorus – moved her emotion, but a follow up call revealed it had not reached her mind, intellectually she did not understand the gospel, and volitionally she had no will to change. In other words there was no real repentance, no true determination to follow Christ.
4. Jesus says, “But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away…. 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.” (Mark 4:6, 16-17)
a. Some come to God w/ problems thinking that if they get saved their problems will all go away. Is that true?
b. 2 Tim 3:12
c. The Christian life is more likely to create problems than solve them.
d. It is more likely to attract difficulties than repel them.
e. And this truth is a great shock to some – “offended” = “skandalizo” – shocked, scandalised, tripped up and stumbled.
f. Shallow believers are revealed in times of trial and tribulation.
D. Verse 7: “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.”
1. It is interesting as we compare the gospels here we get an ever increasing picture of the type of person, and the type of heart in view.
2. Mark identifies the thorns as – “the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in.”
a. Matthew identifies the thorns as “the cares of this world.”
b. Luke 8:14 refers to those who, “are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life.”
c. So now we see a heart that is taken up with the cares of the world, with making money, with lusts and worldly pleasures”
3. This is the IMPURE heart.
a. The thorns and weeds here may have been cut away at ground level, but the roots were still there.
b. Illus: Mow the dandelions in your garden…are you rid of them? Of course not, they’ll be right back!
c. So it is with the worldly heart – unless there is genuine repentance – a turning FROM sin, TO God, then the life is going to be plagued by the thorns and thistles of worldliness.
E. Let’s be clear now: these three examples are NOT believers who lost their salvation…but people who were never saved at all!
1. The evidence of a true believer is that they bear fruit.
2. Jesus said, by their fruits ye shall know them, and it is quite obvious that in each of the first three scenarios no fruit is likely to be yielded.
3. Which brings us to one more soil type.
F. Verse 8: “And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.”
1. In this case the seed fell on to “good ground”, and Jesus tells that the good ground is not just one that hears the Word, and makes some kind of impulsive, emotional decision, but one who understands the Word and is persuaded by it – see Mark 4:20
2. This is the INGRAFTED heart.
a. This is the heart that humbly receives the truth of the Word, in genuine faith and repentance this one gets saved and is filled with the indwelling Spirit of God.
Conclusion: So this is a story not just about soils, but about sinners, about different kinds of sinners, about some who are hard and unreachable, much like those Pharisees of chapter 3, and some who believe a false gospel that lacks repentance and takes no account of the cost, and is soon offended by circumstance, and some who are worldly wise, whose goals in life are diametrically opposed to the will of God for man. But then there are those, and they are in the minority, who are earnest about the things of God, whose hearst are tender and prepared to receive the Word, in whom life eternal is generated and blossoms into a life of fruitfulness in the service of God.
I wonder tonight which kind of soil best represents you?
William Carey, the father of the modern missionary movement, arrived in India in 1793 with a burden to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who had never heard the name. For seven years he proclaimed the gospel message faithfully week after week, month after month, with not a single native of India converted to Christ. Through years of struggle and doubt, Carey was often discouraged but never defeated. To his sisters back home in England he wrote:
“I feel as a farmer does about his crop: sometimes I think the seed is springing, and thus I hope; a little blasts all, and my hopes are gone like a cloud. They were only weeds which appeared; or if a little corn sprung up, it quickly dies, being either chocked with weeds, or parched up by the sun of persecution. Yet I still hope in God, and will go forth in his strength, and make mention of his righteousness, even of his only.”
Tonight we share that same message of hope with you. We tell you there is one in Heaven who loves you. That there is a Saviour from sin, and that by trusting in Him you can be saved. Our prayer is that the seed of that truth should fall upon good ground, and that you might be saved.
