He used them frequently! The Bible says He taught them many parables.
WHY DID THE LORD TEACH IN PARABLES?
Notice, the Scripture explains the Scripture.
Look at Mark 4:1-2, we read, “And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, ….”
The Bible makes it clear that He wanted to TEACH THEM MANY THINGS, and verse 2 says He chose to do this by USING PARABLES.
WHAT IS A PARABLE?
• A parable is a short story about everyday things that illustrates a single truth or principle.
• In it, one set of circumstances in the physical sphere is likened to a spiritual counterpart.
WHAT DID THE LORD WANT TO TEACH THEM IN THIS PARABLE?
In this particular parable that we are dealing with this evening, He wanted to teach them HOW DIFFERENT PEOPLE RECEIVE THE WORD OF GOD.
He used an earthly thing that they could relate to, to teach them a spiritual truth.
Look at Mark 4:3, “Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:”
Today we have very few farmers compared to the number of farmers around when Christ was here.
Why? Because we do not need as many farmers as we needed when Christ was here.
For example, one farmer can get on his tractor, and he can plow more acres in a day than a hundred farmers could plow during the days of Christ. Because of the modern age of TRACTORS, IRRIGATION, AND COMBINES, we as a nation have an abundance of food and we feed many other nations.
But during the days of Christ, they did not have this modern machinery that we have, and practically everyone was a farmer.
This is probably why the Lord chose to use the “Parable of the Sower” to teach how people receive the Word of God.
The emphasis in this parable is on the SOIL.
The seed is the Word of God, and there is nothing wrong with the Word of God.
But like any good seed, if it is sown in bad soil, nothing will come from it.
Let’s look at the different kinds of soil the seed falls on.
I. THE FIRST SOIL WAS A HARD-PACKED SOIL
Look at Mark 4:3-4, we read, “Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.”
That represents the person with a hardened heart. The Word of God did not penetrate their hearts.
That is, when the minister of the gospel preaches the Word of God to folks with hard hearts, the Word of God can never take root, and gets no further than their ears.
Because the seed can not take root in their life, consequently the Bible says it is stolen by Satan.
For example, there are people who can come to church every week to hear the Word of God preached, and by the time they get in their cars to go home, they have forgotten what the sermon was about.
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
The problem is their hearts were hard like packed soil, and the seed could not take root, and the devil came and stole it from them. WHAT A SHAME!
This is why some folks can go to church for years and never grow in the Lord. It is because the Word of God is not allowed to enter their hearts.
With this crowd, the precious Word of God does not have a chance.
II. THE SECOND SOIL CONSISTED OF AN EXTREMELY THIN LAYER OF SOIL OVER SOLID ROCK
Look at Mark 4:5-6, we read, “And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.”
With this group, it looked like the Word of God might accomplish something in their life. Notice, the Bible says “Immediately it sprang up”.
If you have been saved very long, you have seen what I have seen in the church. That is, someone will come to church, hear the Word of God, respond by making a profession of faith, and for the next six weeks they are a blazing fire for the Lord.
But notice, the Lord said “…when the sun was up, it was scorched…” Why? Because the Bible said, “It had no root, it withered away.”
These folks make the Lord’s work look bad. They are on fire for the Lord for a short time, and once they get everyone having some confidence in them, they fall by the wayside.
These are the kind of folks that will cause people to say about the church, “What is wrong with the church, why did so and so quit coming to church?” Listen, nothing is wrong with the church, nothing is wrong with the seed that has been sown (Word of God), the problem is the seed was sown on bad soil that had a thin layer of dirt on top of some rocks, and it never could take root.
The Bible says, “It had no depth of earth.”
III. THE THIRD SOIL WAS GOOD, BUT WAS INFESTED WITH THORNS
Look at Mark 4:7, we read, “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.”
The person represented here was a genuine Christian, but he allowed legitimate concerns as well as materialistic values to take precedence over the Word of God.
Again, we all have seen people who were on fire for God, but gradually they allowed the things of the world, family, friends, jobs, and recreation, to invade their life. Soon they began to make these things the god of their life, and these things choked the living God out of their life.
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature and produce fruit.
IV. THE FOURTH SOIL WAS GOOD IN VARYING DEGREES
Look at Mark 4:8 “And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.”
The people represented here were Christians who opened their hearts to the Word of God in varying degrees, and were transformed correspondingly.
Listen, every Christian does not produce a hundred percent, I wish they did! But every Christian should be bearing fruit if they know the Lord Jesus.
I have no confidence nor should you in this crowd that says they KNOW THE LORD, and they are not producing any fruit for the Lord Jesus. It might be only 30% or 40% but they must be producing something.
Jesus teaches us that the place for the Bible is not on a FIREPLACE MANTEL, COFFEE TABLE, or BOOKSHELF, but in the human heart.
Illus: Someone said, “THE BEST TRANSLATION OF THE WORD OF GOD IS A HUMAN BEING.”
God abstracted his essential nature and placed it in a book as a means of reproducing Himself in the human heart.
The Holy Spirit superintends the process from start to finish. The purpose of the Word of God is to transform the individual into the image of Christ.
Once one understands God's purpose relative to the Word of God, he can cooperate in the process.
Conclusion:
The Word of God will never be able to achieve what God wants to achieve until the Word of God is internalized.
Illus: D. L. Moody said, “The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.” (D. L. Moody, Leadership, Vol. 9, no. 2.)
Illus: C.H. Spurgeon said, “I would rather lay my soul a soak in half a dozen verses [of the Bible] all day than rinse my hand in several chapters.” (Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Christian History, no. 29.)
There is a great need today for Christians to STUDY THE SCRIPTURES, and allow the Scriptures to penetrate their hearts, instead of speed reading through the Bible.
Illus: Many today, in reading the Bible, make you think of Nena Jurek who said, “Flipping through our children's Bible, I pointed to a picture of Jesus surrounded by his disciples, and asked my daughter to explain the story in her own words. Looking at it, she said, "Mommy, this is a story about Jesus. And here are all his disciples--Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, and Romans!" (Nena Jurek, Houston, TX. Today's Christian Woman, "Heart to Heart.")
It is obvious today that many do not understand what the Word of God teaches, because it has never been received in their hearts.
Here are eight steps to help internalize the Word of God.
(1) The first step is to establish a right relationship with God. Before you can know anything about this Book, you must first know the Author.
Illus: A young lady, who was a senior in college, went on a blind date with this fellow. He asked what her hobbies were, and she said, “I enjoy reading”. He said “Really, are you reading a book at the present?” She said, “Yes, I am, and did you know that the author of the book has the same name you have?” But she went on to say it was a book that she was not enjoying that much. He said, “What is the name of the book?” She told him, and he said, “Oh, I am sorry you are not enjoying the book, but I am the author of that book.” Needless to say she was embarrassed to have said she was not enjoying the book. But she went home after the date and started reading it again, and the book took on a whole new meaning. WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE? She had met the author!
If a Christian is going to know anything about this Bible they have got to have the right relationship with Christ.
Confess all known sin to God. Then make things right with people. After we clear our conscience, then we must choose to obey God as a lifestyle. This means walking in the light of God's Word, as the Holy Spirit illuminates his Word.
(2) The second step is to pray in order that the heart might be further prepared to receive the Word. God always works through prayer.
(3) The third step is to eliminate distractions.
It is important to rid ourselves of both internal and external distractions, before, during, and after Bible reading and meditation. We live in a noisy world, but if we are sincere about wanting to internalize the Word of God, we must have the right environment, one that eliminates distractions.
(4) The fourth step is to read the Word.
It is good to read a small portion carefully. (There is a time to read large portions quickly, but not for this exercise). Some key scriptures should be memorized.
(5) Step five involves meditation.
Some folks are afraid of meditation, but they should not be. Christian meditation is not "emptying" the mind (to let the devil write on it), but rather it is filling the mind with the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to give us understanding of it.
(6) The sixth step is actually receiving the Word into our heart.
Some may think that they have done this when the Word is still on the intellectual level. How do we know if we have internalized a particular truth of the Word of God? We have internalized a truth when we automatically ACT on it!
(7) The seventh step is to think God's thoughts (Word) consciously as a practice.
The Bible says, in Phillipians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”
(8) The eighth step is to practice speaking God's thoughts consciously.
I. THE FIRST SOIL WAS A HARD-PACKED SOIL
II. THE SECOND SOIL CONSISTED OF AN EXTREMELY
THIN LAYER OF SOIL OVER A SOLID ROCK
III. THE THIRD SOIL WAS GOOD, BUT WAS INFESTED
WITH THORNS
IV. THE FOURTH SOIL WAS GOOD IN VARYING DEGREES
