The Parable of the Sower – 11
“Benefits of Good Ground”
Mark 4:20
“But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
This morning we talked about what it takes to become a good ground person. We talked about some of the characteristics of good ground people. We discovered very quickly that we want to be good ground. Tonight I want to talk about the results or the benefits of being good ground.
Being good ground keeps people out of trouble and sets them up to receive their harvest. Good ground people have no worries, no concerns, and no lack of peace. They have joy. Whatever they need, when they need it, will be theirs. Let’s look at our text:
“But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
Our text says that those who are good ground will bring forth fruit.
➢ Healing, protection, and salvation are all fruits of the Word.
➢ Prosperity, deliverance, love, joy and peace are all fruits of the Word.
➢ Gentleness, goodness, faith and kindness are all fruits of the Word.
I. THE DEGREES OF HARVEST
I want us to notice one thing in this Scripture. Good ground people will produce fruit in their lives, but I what I want you to notice is that some people will harvest more fruit than others: Some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred. In other words, fruit is available in different degrees. This is why some Christians receive more than others. They walk in a different degree. Some say, “That’s not fair.” Well it is fair because the level that they walk in is not dependent on God; it is dependent on the condition of their ground. God is no respecter of persons, so He doesn’t do more for one then He does for another. Again, it is based on the condition of our ground. Jesus explains Himself if we keep on reading further down in our text. Let’s pick up where we left off.
Mark 4:21-22, “Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.”
Jesus is talking about revelation knowledge here. He wants to make known the hidden things to us. The degree of revelation you have is the determinant for whether or not your harvest is thirty, sixty or a hundredfold. The more you see and understand, the greater harvest there is. This is why it all goes back to the first sessions of the power of the Word. We have to understand and plant this Word in order to receive a harvest. Seedtime and harvest is the way that God set up this whole earth. If our ground is right, Jesus tells us that things will be revealed to us and we will be able to walk in a greater level of revelation.
Let’s look at a story in the Bible to see why revelation is so important.
Matthew 16:13-18, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “ Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “ But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “ Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
We can learn from this that Satan and Hell cannot win against a Christian who has revelation knowledge because that Christian is good ground, producing good fruit. Once you know deep down in your knower that Jesus is the Christ and the power that Jesus has, not even the gates of hell itself can defeat you. But you must have a revelation of who Jesus is! Jesus is not finished with this Scripture. He continues:
Matthew 16:19, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
These keys are not given to every child of God. I would like to say they are, but that isn’t the way it works. These keys are available to good ground people, they are available to those who receive and know the Word, the ones who have received a revelation of the supernatural, dynamite power of the Word. We, as good ground people have the power to bind satan and all his forces. We have the power to overcome any obstacle that comes in our path. We have the power to loose the blessing of Almighty God on our lives and the lives of our family. But we have to have revelation knowledge of who Jesus is and the omnipotent power that is available to us.
Remember, revelation comes by degrees. When you are learning something for the first time, you start in a beginner’s class. Once you learn a principle or a concept, then you move on to the next level. This is why people receive harvest at 30, 60, 100 fold. The more you see and understand, the more you can do. Every word of God is full of the power of God and it provides safety, protection, healing, financial provision. In other words, the good ground person is an individual who allows God to do the fullest extent of what God can do. God is limited by what YOU allow. God can’t do everything He wants to do in your life if you won’t allow it. He has the power to do it, but He won’t do it unless you give Him permission.
Mark 4:22, “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.”
I hear people say all the time, “You just never know what God is going to do.” There is no Scriptural evidence for that statement whatsoever. God doesn’t have any knowledge that He won’t share with you, other than when He is returning.
I Corinthians 2:9-10, “But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” Some people use this Scripture to argue that God doesn’t share everything with us. But read on and see what the whole thing says. “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.” Let’s read on a little further. God doesn’t just reveal surface knowledge, He shares it all with us. 11-12, “For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.”
God wants to share things with us. But our ground, our spirit, our heart, has to be in the right place in order for that to happen. The things of God are freely given, but they require revelation to get them. We must receive the Word in order to receive this revelation, because revelation comes through the Word. God doesn’t do anything outside of His Word.
➢ God has provided whatever you need right now in the real world, on the real street; He supplies it with real people, hospitals, money, husbands and wives and families. There is nothing in the Earth that God has not made freely available, but it requires revelation, and only good ground people receive it.
➢ These truths are hidden. They are not hidden from you, but they are hidden for you so Satan’s crowd can’t get the blessing.
II. FOCUS DETERMINES HARVEST
Let’s go back to our text again.
Mark 4:23-24a, “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Why would Jesus say this? No doubt everyone has ears on both sides of their heads. Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear.”
Remember, the wayside person didn’t want to hear, although all the other types of grounds heard some degree of the Word.
What kind of seed do you want planted inside your ears? Remember, television shows, movies, radio programs and music are all seeds. These seeds go into your ear-gate and eye-gate and get into your spirit. What you see and hear is what will come out of your mouth. This is why Jesus says, take heed, or pay attention to what you are listening to, what you are hearing. Let’s read on some:
Mark 4:24, “With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.”
Thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold are all degrees, they are measures. Jesus is saying in this parable that whatever measure or degree of attention you give to this truth is the degree of good ground you will be and the degree of harvest you will receive from it. It all goes back to the Word and receiving the Word.
➢ Your focus determines your harvest.
➢ The Word is the power of God unto your salvation.
➢ The degree of the Word that you focus on will determine how much you receive.
➢ Your harvest has nothing to do with the Word lacking power; it has everything to do with how much you receive by paying attention to it and hearing it.
➢ You control what you receive from God.
Why is it that some walk closer to the Lord than others? Why is it that some receive harvests while others wait forever for it? God doesn’t play favourites. You may think that there are people who are blessed by God and there are! But it has nothing to do with God choosing them over you.
➢ Your return has everything to do with your decision and action. It is dependent on your focus and revelation of the Word.
Let’s continue with Mark 4.
Mark 4:25-26, “For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Once again, Jesus sets forth the principle that if you believe, if you sow God’s words, you will receive more, if you don’t believe, or sow Satan’s words, you will even lose what you already have. And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground.” The seed is the Word and the ground is your heart, which can be one of four different grounds: wayside, thorny, stony, or good ground.
Mark 4:27-28a, “And should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself.”
The power for whatever you are going to reap, or harvest, does not come from the outside in, but from the inside out. I think this is enough for you to comprehend for one week, so we will finish Sunday morning.
