THE HEART IS THE PROBLEM

Proclamation:

“… There went out a sower to sow … as he sowed, some fell by the way side … and some fell on stony ground … and some fell among thorns … and others fell on good ground … He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  Mark 4:3-9 (KJV)

Explanation:

These words are from the parable of the sower which were spoken by Jesus, The Christ, to His disciples, and the crowd which had followed Him, as He sat in a boat on the sea of Tiberias as recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Mark.  Parables are earthly stories with a heavenly meaning designed to conceal the heavenly truth from worldly non-believers.  Everyone who hears The Word of God will not understand what they hear.  The sower is the preacher or teacher, the seed that he sowed is The Word of God, and the ground is the heart of the hearers.  The way side is the hard, trampled dirt of the pathway.  The seed which landed there did not grow or produce any fruit.  The stony ground had very little soil.  The seed which landed there grew quickly and died quickly without producing any fruit due to its poor foundation.  The thorns are the weeds.  The seed which landed there grew but was choked by the weeds and died without producing fruit.  The good ground is fertile soil.  The seed which landed there grew and produced fruit with many seeds, a thirty to one hundred fold increase.

Application:

I was blessed to preach this sermon on Sunday, November 20, 2016.  In summary, this is what The Holy Spirit shared with me.  The way side represents the hard-hearted people who hear The Word of God but reject it and refuse to believe it. (Mark 4:14-15)  The stony ground represents the shallow, superficial faint-hearted people who get excited when they hear The Word of God but quickly forget it. (Mark 4:16-17)  The thorns represent the heart of worldly concerned fickle people who put their worldly concerns before The Lord God and the excuses they offer when any sacrifice is required in service to The Lord. (Mark 4:18-19)  The good ground represent the receptive heart of the true believers who become hearers and doers of The Word.  Their lives are changed and they exhibit a Christian life style with Christian conversation and behavior.  They produce fruit by sharing The Word of God with the lost and telling them about Christ. (Mark 4:20)  All of us fall into one of these four groups of people.  The question is, with respect to The Word of God, are you hard-hearted, superficial, fickle, or a true believer?  There are eternal implications based upon your decision, please carefully consider the above and choose wisely.