“Four Heart Soils” (Mark 4:1-20)

In Sermons, The Whole Story, Year 2024 by harvest.admin

Resource by Peter Park

Continuing in our series, TWS. One of Jesus’ parables. (Parable – Earthly story with spiritual meaning.)

Text: Mk. 4 1 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. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 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. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

So what does this parable mean? What’s the seed, and why is Jesus talking about different soils? If we stopped here, I bet we could come up with a lot of ideas about what Jesus is saying. Now, there are some places in the Bible that are hard to understand and you have to do a deep dive and reference other passages in the bible. But this is not one of those times. Jesus gives us the interpretation…

14 The sower sows the word. 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. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 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. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 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. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

So Jesus clearly gives us the meaning of the parable. The sower is Jesus, here, and also any person who is preaching the word, the gospel, preaching Jesus, which is the seed. And the soils represent four different heart conditions. So let’s go through each of them. 

Soil 1 – Beaten Path. Now generally, when you’re sowing seed, you’re not trying to scatter it on the path. The seed can’t get into the packed soil and put down roots. 

Hard-hearted person – Hears the word but quickly dismisses/rejects the word/Jesus. There are lots of people today who react this way to the gospel for several reasons: 

-Devoted followers of other religions. Tradition. Culture. Family.

-Atheists – don’t believe in God. Problem of suffering.

-Agnostic – there may or may not be a God but I’m not sure which is right or that it can’t be determined. 

-Apathetic – Don’t really care.

-All the same – Why can’t people just believe that they want to believe and leave everyone else alone. Why does there have to be one right way? As long as we can all get together, everything is fine.

-Skeptics – How can we trust the Bible since it was written by man? And at the same time, they trust newspapers, science journals, horoscopes, and fortune cookies. (Internet Meme – Funny face.)

So Satan immediately comes and takes away the word because they are close-minded and hard-hearted. Think they’ve got everything figured out for what they need in life. 

I encourage people who are seeking all the time…have humility and a learning posture. Study and do your research. Don’t just believe in something blindly, but also don’t just reject something blindly either. Look into Atheism, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Islam, look into everything. And I believe Jesus/Christianity is the most logically and theologically compelling.

Soil 2 – Rocky Ground. Not so much talking about soil that has a lot of rocks. But there’s not much soil because there are rocks underneath. So the seed is not able to put down roots and endures only for a while. And initially, you can’t tell the difference. You don’t know whether it’s going to make it or not. But it’s here and gone with no evidence that it ever existed in the first place. Superficial.

This is the person who is initially attracted to the gospel and immediately receives it with joy because:

-The Bible talks about love and how Jesus loves everyone. Seems like an accepting message where there’s no judgment for anything.

-Maybe they think they can get something out of God. They’re interested in what God can do for them and the blessings he might dispense to them rather than Jesus himself being the treasure.

-Or just an emotional response. Got caught up in the moment. The music, the atmosphere, the emotions. Other people are doing it. 

They may love Jesus on the surface like the crowds in the gospels. But they lack a full understanding of who Jesus is and what he demands.

So when tribulation or persecution comes, just as fast as they received the word, they reject it. They didn’t truly consider the cost of following Jesus. Oh, following Jesus is not all comfort and prosperity and rainbows? Jesus has strong controversial opinions on sexuality, marriage, and integrity? And if I believe those things, my friends and my coworkers and classmates might think I’m crazy and I may lose their respect? I have to pick up my cross and follow him? And my life may literally be in danger because people want to do harm to me and my family? Nope. That’s not for me. (Hard. Sympathize.)

And often it doesn’t take much for the person to leave the gospel behind because there was nothing to their faith. Again, there were no roots. They don’t want faith in Jesus to cost anything cause he’s not worth it.

Soil 3 – Thorny Ground. So the gospel seed is sown, the person hears it, but it’s choked out and also proves unfruitful.

What are the thorns that are choking out the seed/word?

-Cares of the world 

-Family/People Group – Loyalty. Tradition. 

-Kids – Living for your kids. They are your gods and you are their servants. Everything revolves around them and you’re so busy trying to make them happy and give them everything. 

-Career – Want to climb the ladder. Happiness. Important.

-Lifestyle – Want your life to look a certain way. Comfort. Pleasure. Car. House. Travel

-Stuff – If I can get these things, I’ll be happy.

-Deceitfulness of riches – Security, Pleasure, Freedom, Happiness. (Promises so much but can’t deliver. Can’t buy joy, purpose.)

-Desires for other things – Hobbies, Entertainment, Romance/Companionship – Not willing to wait and do it God’s way.

The heart is overcrowded with other concerns that aren’t even necessarily bad things, many of them are good things. But the primary focus on those good things turns them into god things. And Jesus doesn’t seem as valuable, enjoyable, practical, or urgent.

So none of the first three heart conditions proved to be a good environment for the word to be sown. Thinking – Well for the second and third, what about “Once saved, always saved.”? Doesn’t the Bible say that? Well, it depends on what you mean. It is certainly true in the right contexts. People who have a genuine faith are always saved. But it doesn’t matter if you prayed a prayer a long time ago to put your faith in Jesus but it wasn’t genuine and you’re doing whatever you want with your life now. Jesus is not just your get out of hell free card in life. It’s all or nothing with Jesus. He’s Lord of All in your life or not at all.

How do you know whether your faith is genuine? Genuine faith endures and bears fruit. We’re going to talk about this more in a moment.

As a pastor, the people represented in the second and third soils are who worry me. It’s not that I don’t care about the people who are hard hearted, I want them to know Jesus too. But for the second and third group, Jesus says on the last day (Mt. 7), he’s going to separate the believers from the nonbelievers, those who received the word and those who ultimately rejected it. And he’s going to say to those who didn’t believe, Get away from me I never knew you. And their response is heartbreaking, Lord, did we not do all these things in your name? They think they were good with Jesus because of their good works. But they’re devastatingly going to discover, it’s never about doing, even good things like ministry, that gets you into heaven. It’s about receiving and believing in Jesus, the Word.

Soil 4 – Good Soil. Straightforward. Here the people hear the word, accept it, and bears proof. 1Pe.1:23 – “You have been born again, not of perishable seed but of the imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”

Proof: Bear fruit in keeping with righteousness. The fruit always indicates what kind of seed is planted. Or the seed always determines the fruit. You don’t plant a mango tree and then suddenly, the tree starts bearing durian. So the word always produces the fruit of Christlikeness. (Baptisms last weekend – Lives changed.)

My question for you: What type of fruit are you producing? Does it look like fruit that is in keeping with God’s word or the world?

A. Fruit the Word produces: Character of God- grace, mercy, forgiveness. Fruit of the Spirit-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Christlikeness-holiness, righteousness, compassion, humility, service.

These things aren’t naturally inherent to who you are, but it’s the fruit you bear in response to God’s word in you. It transforms.

B. Fruit the world produces: pride, self-centeredness, greed, envy, covetousness, jealousy, anger, lust, drunkenness. If this sounds more like you, it’s because they are the seeds you’re sowing in your heart.

Here’s what you need to understand about the nature of fruit. It is always to the benefit of not only yourself, because you’re growing in Christlikeness, but also to the benefit of others. In the analogy, where you bear fruit, let’s say you’re a durian tree. Does the durian tree produce durian to the benefit of itself? Only in the fact that if it doesn’t bear fruit, it’s going to get chopped down. The fruit is for the benefit of others to enjoy. (Which by the way, Pastor Eric absolutely loves durian and would love to enjoy it with you sometime.) That’s how spiritual fruit works. It is for blessing, and building up, and encouraging others.

Then there’s also the multiplying nature of fruit. When the word is planted in your heart, into good soil, it produces a return that is exponential according to the power of God, not our ability. 

Ok. So those are the 4 different heart conditions in which the word of God can fall. And typically, this passage is preached to talk about salvation, and if a person will become a believer or not. True/Right.

So if you’re already a believer, you may be thinking – Well this sermon doesn’t apply to me. But there’s more to this parable. It also teaches us believers about how our hearts receive and respond to the word of God on a daily basis. The word of God is for both salvation and sanctification. As believers, if we want to grow in Christlikeness, we have to constantly be sowing the seed of the word into the hearts. Col.3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. 1Thess.2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. So many more scriptures like Ps. 1, 19, 119, 2Tim3:16. 

Let me show you how this plays out for believers…You read the word in your personal time or at church on Sundays…

(Soil 1) I preach on giving and generosity. And you have a first soil response. – I worked hard for my money, I’m not just giving it away to church. Giving doesn’t apply to me because I don’t have or make that much money. So and so who does have money really needs to hear this. 

When I talk about how it’s critical to use your gifts and serve in the church. And your response is: No. I’m not doing that. I’ll give you whatever amount of money you want. But I’m not giving you my time. After all, I don’t really get much out of serving.

Bitterness/Unforgiveness – That person doesn’t deserve my forgiveness.

Your mind is already made up. And the problem is, if you’ve already determined what you’re going to do, it’s hard to hear and obey what God is saying. 

Soil 2 – Every week, we end our service by saying, you are loved and sent. Sent to do what? Share the gospel. Oh that sounds good. I’m going to do that this week. But then the friend or coworker shuts you down, maybe even mocks you. And you decide to just keep your faith to yourself because you fear man and don’t want to feel embarrassed about your faith.

Soil 3 – How many people here can truly say they are content and satisfied with their life? You have a great work, life, ministry balance. You’re not too busy and you have regular times of rest, reading the Bible, and your prayer life is thriving. I think if we’re honest with ourselves, we’d probably say the intentions are there, but they’re often choked out by the busyness of life. All the things we have to do.

Anxiety/Worry – I don’t know if I can fully commit to follow God because what if things don’t work out for me? I really need to be in control of my life, and if I approve of God’s plan, then I’ll follow.

If I just had a bit more money, things would be ok. I can live for Jesus then and I’ll even give some to the church. Lottery (RM9B) – God can do more with a word than if I had all the money in the world. Pretty sure I’d be doing less ministry.

Parents – You can’t raise and disciple your kids to love and follow Jesus if you yourself are too busy or they’re too busy with the things of the world. I see this happen too often. And we can’t discourage our kids from following Jesus, especially when they’re pushing for it.

My Parents – Didn’t want me to go into ministry at first. Doctor/Lawyer. Decision. Times when I’m not thinking rightly – I could have done something else with my life and made lots of money and done a lot of things and had a lot of fun. Other friends and what they’re doing.

Soil 4 – Lastly, when we receive the word and let it do its work in us, our lives are transformed. Joy through all circumstances, unshakable trust and confidence in the goodness of God towards us, peace that surpassess all understanding, freedom and purpose to live for something bigger than ourselves. Have to want it. Jesus is the most valuable.

The problem in the first three soils is not with the sower or the seed. Two main factors that determine what happens to the seed: The condition of the soil and the depth of the seed. 

A. Condition of the soil. Ultimately, heart change is a work of God. We can’t fake it or manipulate it. Without God, without the working of the Holy Spirit, working in our lives, it doesn’t matter what we do, we do it in vain. But we also have a role to play in constantly gardening the soil of our hearts. We are co-gardeners with God. Creation mandate. God expects us to labor alongside him to do the work.

The natural state of your heart is not to grow towards God. So you need to constantly tend to it. Pull the weeds like in a garden. If you don’t remove the weed at the first sighting, it will spread all over the garden. It will multiply like cancer until it completely takes over and chokes out the life of the good things. (Taking care of grass in the US. 2x inherited.) Careful: What you watch/listen to. Replace it with…

Word – I can’t preach this sermon without emphasizing this. You want to become more like Jesus? It’s not going to happen by watching more Astro/Youtube. You have to be consuming the Word of God, driving it deep into your heart so that’s the fruit your life produces. Ps.119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Prayer – We cannot, will not, do it apart from God. Ask. Ps. 42, 63.

Community – Oftentimes, other people see the weeds in your life more clearly than you. (Grace – I’ve told you 1mil./x) It is unloving for you not to point it out. Yes, there’s a wrong way to do it. The truth has to be shared in love with grace. Goal is to build up, not to tear down. Do it.

B. Depth of the seed. In the first soil, the seed is on the surface and has no roots. The second, the roots aren’t deep enough. And the third, it’s not driven deep enough to overcome the weeds. If you can get the seed deep enough into the soil, it doesn’t matter if you pour concrete on top, it’s going to break through. I see it all the time on the sidewalks in KL. 

So…Drive the gospel deeper into your heart. Deeper than your personal preferences, deeper than family, deeper than your desire for a better life, deeper than your desire to be loved and approved of by others, deeper than your fears, and deeper than your biggest dreams.

Test: You want to know how deep the gospel is and what place it has in your heart? Suffering and hardship. What comes out of your heart? Not fun. But great litmus test.

End with an awesome story at the end of chp. 4, Jesus, after a full day of teaching. Really could be its own sermon…

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Don’t miss this: The disciples were more terrified of Jesus and his power to command the seas than they were of the storm they thought was going to kill them! 

But for those who believe in him, you have nothing to fear. Jesus uses the power of his word for your good. The power to calm the seas, the power to heal, the power to forgive sins, the power to raise what’s dead and make it alive, that’s the power of the Word that he’s planted in your heart. See, the word is our very life and it is the only hope for the world. 

What’s common amongst all the soils is that they all hear the word of God. All believers are to be 1) Gospel Seed Sowers. You can never sow too broadly. (Ro. 10 – Call, Believe, Hear, Preach, Sent. – You’re all sent.)

2) Gardeners – (1 Cor. 3) Your role is to do work on the heart’s soil – pull the weeds, break up the hard soil, plant the seed, and water it. And God will give the growth.

Why is the word of God likened to a seed? A seed is so weak. But the potential power is limitless. Ge. 1 – God used words to create. And now the word of God is recreating us. Jn.12:23-24 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jesus was the seed, the word of God in the flesh, who took the crown of thorns, taking the curse of Gen.3 literally upon his head. He died for us and was buried by a rock into the earth. But he didn’t stay there. He rose again and from there the fruit of his work was the birth of the church, people from every tribe and nation and tongue. You and me.

Word/Logos – Jesus. The gospel, the good news of Jesus, is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. (Ro. 1:16) All you have to do is receive it. But you genuinely have to desire Jesus for who he is. And if you have him, you truly have everything.

Other videos in this series: