Mark 4:13
Bad Weeds Kill Good Seeds
Outline:
I. \\#Mark 1:1-15\\ Introduction
A. \\#1:1-8\\ Jesus Was Announced
B. \\#1:9-11\\ Jesus Was Authenticated
C. \\#1:12-13\\ Jesus Was Proven
D. \\#1:14-15\\ The Bridge
II. \\#Mark 1:16-2:28\\ Meet Jesus
A. \\#1:14-2:12\\ Jesus’ Authority
1. \\#1:16-20\\ Jesus Has Authority over Men
2. \\#1:21-22\\ Jesus Has Authority in Doctrine
3. \\#1:23-28\\ Jesus Has Authority over Demons
4. \\#1:29-39\\ Jesus Has Authority over Sickness
5. \\#1:40-45\\ Jesus Has Authority over Disease
6. \\#2:1-12\\ Jesus Has Authority over Sin
B. \\#2:13-28\\ Jesus Cares for Sinners
C. \\#2:13-28\\ Jesus Is Not Like Others
1. \\#2:13-17\\ He’s not like everyone else.
2. \\#2:18-22\\ He’s not like the disciples of John or the
Pharisees.
3. \\#23-28\\ He’s not like the Pharisees.
III. \\#Mark 3:1-35\\ Things Are Changing
A. \\#3:1-6\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and the Pharisees
B. \\#3:7-12\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and the People
C. \\#3:13-19\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and His Disciples
D. \\#3:22-30\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and the Scribes
E. \\#3:31-35\\ The Relationship Between Jesus and His Family
IV. \\#Mark 4:1-10:52\\ The Words and Power of Jesus
A. \\#4:1-20\\ Bad Weeds Kill Good Seeds
We started looking at this parable last week. Notice what Jesus said
about it.
Mark 4:13 And he said unto them, Know ye not
this parable? and how then will ye know all
parables?
He implied that understanding this parable was key to understanding
all parables. That is another one of those statements that makes me
want to ask, "Why?" But it is another one of those statements that
does not answer the question, "Why?"
Why MIGHT this parable be a key to understanding Jesus’ other
parables? Maybe because it is teaching a most important truth, i.e.
that winning a soul is not just about the seed and the sower. It is
also about the condition of the heart.
In this parable, Jesus could be the Sower. If so, He would be the
perfect Sower. And the seed is the Word of God, perhaps even the
gospel. If so, it would be the perfect Seed. But even so, only one
out of four soils produced fruit. Why? Because the heart was not
prepared
This parable does not teach us how to be good soul winners. It
teaches us the necessity of preparing the human heart to receive
God’s Word. That is a truth that is key to understanding not only the
parables that Jesus spoke, but the purpose of the church.
How does one prepare his heart to receive the Word? We saw the two
most obvious needs from the parable.
I. We need to understand the importance of the soil.
A. The soil is a picture of the heart, and both soil and human
hearts must be prepared if the seed is to take root and grow.
B. The parable tells us of three bad conditions of the heart.
1. The heart can be hard.
a. People are cold, calloused, and caustic toward God and
the things of God.
b. The only way to win these people is to love them,
live consistently before them, and be patient.
2. The heart can be shallow, lacking character.
a. That is a more of the duty of a parent than a soul
winner. Parents, teach them how to work hard, to do
right regardless, and to finish what they start.
b. Soul winners are far more limited, but should continue
to share, urge the sinner to care for his own soul,
and pray for the Holy Ghost to intervene.
c. However, ultimately character is a choice. Each
person must make up their minds that they will:
(1) Do right at all cost.
(2) Do what they may not want to do.
(3) Put honor and duty before comfort and pleasure.
3. The heart can be cluttered, too filled with things that
don’t matter.
a. In too many lives, the seed of the Word of God never
touches the soil of the heart at all.
b. People may sit in a good church and listen to Holy
Spirit-filled preaching, and it do them no good at
all.
c. Why?
(1) Because they are not there even when they are
there.
(2) Bad weeds kill good seeds.
II. We need to understand the work of Satan.
A. He’s the enemy.
1. He wants to kills, steal, and destroy.
2. Kill, steal, and destroy what? Everything and everyone.
B. We have three enemies.
1. If you were dropped on a perfect island with all you
needed you’d still be have the flesh.
a. But you are not on an island.
b. We are in a world where there are bad people and
things we want that we should not.
c. To top it off, there is the devil, a person of great
intellect and very evil who wants to hurt us.
2. These three are always pulling at us.
C. How does the devil try to hurt us?
1. It is the devil that bring about all the poor heart
conditions.
a. He is the one who stomps the soil to make it hard.
b. He digs out the soil to keep it shallow.
c. And he throws tares into the garden to keep it
cluttered.
2. In addition to that, he simply steals the seed of God’s
Word so that it is out of sight and out of mind.
a. He has stolen it from public view in America.
(1) schools, court houses, ball games, nativity
scenes—all gone.
(2) Even the term Christmas must be banned from
stores and advertising.
(3) How the saints that founded this country would
feel at the knowledge of how this country has
turned from God, truth, and the history of this
nation.
b. But the devil even steals the seed from the hearts of
church goers.
(1) I believe that is why God commanded a Sabbath in
the Old Testament and commands a prayer closet
in the New.
(2) We, the Christians, need a time to stop and think
on God, eternity, and the Word of God.
(3) Such a time would give peace, guidance, and build
add depth to character.
(4) In the many things that are prophesied of the end
times by Daniel, one of them was the business of
the last days.
Daniel 12:4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the
words, and seal the book, even to the time of the
end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge
shall be increased.
III. \\#Mark 4:9-12\\ We need to understand the sacredness of the
Seed.
Mark 4:9 And he said unto them, He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear.
10 And when he was alone, they that were about
him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
11 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:
12 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.
A. This section is not actually part of the parable or of the
parable’s interpretation.
1. The disciples just got up the courage to ask Jesus the
question, "Why?"
2. They wanted to know why He was speaking in parables
instead of just putting the truth out there like most of
us do when we are trying to win someone to Christ.
3. This section gives Jesus’ answer.
B. \\#11-12\\ Make it clear to me that from this point on, Jesus
was not putting the Seed out to just anyone.
1. The Seed is the Word of God, but many had thumbed their
noses at it.
2. So from this point on, the Seed would only be given in
parables.
a. Those who wanted to dig to find the truth could.
b. Those who did not, did not have to.
3. This may seem hard, but there are few indeed who
understand the privilege of having the Word of God, of
hearing and knowing the truth of salvation.
a. To have this truth, God had to put on human flesh and
walk among us.
b. To have this truth, God the Son had to go to the cross
and die a cruel death.
c. To have this truth, God had to create, empower, and
continue His living body on this planet, called in
the Bible the church.
d. To have this truth, many of God’s servants had to
sacrifice their time, their families, their money,
and their very lives.
4. I hope you will understand why God has no desire to waste
such a precious truth on those who do not want to hear
it.
a. So beginning at this point in Jesus’ ministry, He
seldom spoke to the people without speaking in
parables or spiritual riddles.
b. Some complain that they do not understand the Bible.
(1) I see that.
(2) That is why I often say that the Bible is not a
book for leisure reading.
(3) It is a Book that should be read as if your
eternity depends on understanding it.
(4) Don’t take the Bible, Bible preaching, Bible-
worship, and Bible churches for granted.
(5) Someone has, is, and will pay the greatest of all
earthly prices for it.
(6) It is sacred.
C. On that same day, \\#Matt 13:44-45\\ tell us that Jesus told
the people that we have received pearl of great price, a
treasure so great that one should sell everything we have to
get it.
1. But because Jesus paid the price for us, most will never
understand the worth of what He purchased.
2. The Seed of God’s Word is most sacred.
IV. \\#Mark 4:7, 18-19\\ We need to understand the importance of
separation.
Mark 4:18 And these are they which are sown
among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other
things entering in, choke the word, and it
becometh unfruitful.
A. There is that hated word again.
1. No one likes to admit it but there are two problems
everyone faces who wants to walk with God.
a. We are too weak to stay with Him and…
b. The world is too strong for us to resist it.
2. For this, we must have a defense.
B. There is only one.
1. We must stay out of its reach as much as possible, at
least until you are strong enough to resist it.
2. But even that alone will not help.
a. While we are staying out of the world, we must be
drawing close to God.
b. You cannot remove one things without replacing it with
something else, preferably something better.
c. God calls this withdrawing from the world and drawing
close to Him SANCTIFICATION.
C. Someone asks, "How long must we withdraw from the world?"
1. It depends on how long it takes you to get close to God.
2. There is a direct correlation our nearness to God and
our strength to resist the world.
a. But I will tell you a secret.
b. By the time you get strong enough to resist the world,
you won’t want to go back to it—except for rescue
missions.
V. \\#Mark 4:3, 14\\ Some do not understand the importance of
the sower.
Mark 4:14 The sower soweth the word.
A. In this parable, the sower is not JUST Jesus.
1. It could include Jesus, but it could not be just Jesus.
2. It also must be anyone who shares the Word.
B. Question: How important is a sower of the seed? Answer:
1. As important as the farmer to feeding the millions.
2. As important as the gardener to producing plants.
3. As important as the husbandman to the vineyard.
C. Why? Because seed on a shelf does not produce food, plants, or
vineyards.
1. Someone must take the seed and put it where it will grow.
a. As powerful and precious as the Word of God and the
gospel are, they can do no good sitting on the shelf
of a church.
b. The sower must take the seed and put it into the
hearts of the people.
c. That is the duty of the Christian.
(1) We do not have to be able to explain it with
finesse.
(2) We do not have to be able to answer their every
question.
(3) We do not have present it so that they will like
it.
(4) It is not our job to make them believe it.
(5) Our job is to do the best we can to put the seed
into their hearts so that they can receive it.
(6) What happens then is between them and God.
2. Many will not receive the Word because no one will give
the Word to them.
a. I have listed five reasons why most will not receive
the Word, but the only one we are primarily and
completely reasonable for is the last.
b. Paul asked…
Romans 10:14 …and how shall they hear without a
preacher?
c. I will ask, How will they hear without a sower?
Tonight there is a world on the fast track to hell. Some of them we
do not know, but God cares for them. Some of them are our family,
our friends, and our co-workers. If they are to be saved, we must
understand this parable and do our part in winning them to Christ.
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