Preparing the Field of Faith

11/5/08

Mark 4:1-8

Tim Franklin

Introduction:

Rich parable full of life the mother of all parables.
Jesus is drawing the crowds like never before. The dam has broken and here come the floods.
Yet it is a very sad parable. Because in the midst of the crowds are divine seeds being destroyed by heat of the sun, stony hearts, choking thorns and predatory birds.
Jesus sees all of this while the crowds are becoming absolutely overwhelming.
Is it so surprising that the Savior would be sad when he sees the fate of the Word of God

Mark 4:3-8 "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred." NKJV

Shipped on Sunday lost on Monday. Seed on the path. Path represents business. Dirt, gravel, asphalt, two lane, 4, 6, 8 lane. All speak of busy activity.

Path is not intended to receive seed. Its function is to facilitate the movement of people. It is beaten down and smooth.

i. The more influential you become the greater the possibility of becoming a path. Celebrity, CEO, Church leader. This is not wrong, being influential, quite the contrary. That which can be an advantage in one way can be a hindrance in another.

ii. Seed cannot take root on a much traveled and smooth path. People who are always on the go are in the most danger.

iii. What will Jesus find when the traffic and busy motion of the path is silenced? We can all relate to this path.

We cant think this is just for the busy people in life. You see the bird not only travel the highways, but also the humble fields.

i. The birds reveal to us that there are other forces at work in the field to destroy the divine seed.

ii. A busy mind is just as dangerous as a busy road. Our mind is filled with thoughts daily. All of which are fighting for our attention.

iii. The giants of the faith understood the importance of the word and prayer and their diaries reflect the intensity of their struggle.

1. They did not read as if skimming a book or chatting with a neighbor. They fought with intensity for each day.

2. When you start reading your Bible in the morning and thoughts begin to run through your head, a summons has just been sounded for the birds of the air to gather.

The word demands meditation, and contemplation, and application.

i. Without it.

1. Care and worry are meditations

2. Visual pictures of failure are contemplation.

3. These will rob us of our peace, poison our souls, and cause us to lose power.

4. When this happens then we say the seed (word) is sterile. Christianity is week and God no longer cares.

ii. With it

1. The word takes root

2. The word bears fruit

3. We give the devil the boot.

Stirred on Sunday, Dead on Monday The seed on the rock. . Speaks of an emotional Christianity.

When the Word of God takes root a death takes place.

i. A struggle usually ensues.

ii. Jer 23:29 "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? NKJV Hammers often break things.

iii. For the seed to take root the rock must be busted in to fine particles. Bonhoffer – “When a man comes to Christ, The Lord bids him, ‘Come and die!’

Rock will not receive seed.

i. Enthusiasm in most cases is a straw fire.

ii. When the word does not go through us like a transforming storm, is a seed that dies.

Shallow Christians are always found in the time of crises.

i. They shatter, fall apart when in trouble.

ii. They are miserable in life. They have not the peace of God or of the world.

Fed on Sunday Choked on Monday. Seed among the thorns.

Hear the word, but do not act on it.
The noose

i. Cares – poverty spirit, fear of lack, and fear of not getting enough.

ii. Riches – blind people.

iii. Desires – James1:14-15 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. NKJV

Sown on Sunday, Grown on Monday, Harvested and ready to plant again.

I Must hear.
I Must hang on to.
I must clear the way for.
John 6:29 My work is to believe.
Humility is the soil in which the word of God grows

Conclusion:

Weed out the thorns
See to it that seed does not fall on the path
Do not be so shallow that the word cannot take root.
Be good soil. Hold on to the word in stillness, get rid of hardness and callousness, don’t squeeze God into the cracks of your life, don’t duck repentance and die if you need to and work out your salvation daily..

Pastor Tim Franklin, 11/7/2008