You Gotta Have Heart Series

A. Once there was a man who was having serious heart trouble, so he went to the doctor to see what his options were.

1. His doctor recommended that he have a heart transplant.

2. The patient asked if there were any hearts immediately available and told the doctor that he could pay whatever amount was necessary.

3. The doctor replied, “Well, there are three hearts that are available for you to choose from.”

a. “The first is from an 18-year old kid, non-smoker, very athletic, he was a swimmer who hit his head on the diving board and died. The price is $100,000.”

b. “The second heart is from a marathon runner, 24 years old, in great condition, but he was hit by a bus and died. The price is $150,000.”

c. “The third heart is from a heavy drinker, smoker and meat lover. The price is $500,000.”

4. The patient asked, “Hey, why is that heart so expensive since it sounds like the man did not have a very healthy lifestyle?”

a. The doctor replied, “The price is so high because it's never been used, it’s from a lawyer.”

5. We don’t have any lawyers in the congregation, so I can poke fun at them. Right?

B. But let me ask you a question: Does your heart get used very much?

1. What is the condition of your heart?

2. The heart that I am asking you about today is not your physical heart, but your spiritual heart.

3. Somewhere within each of us is a spiritual heart that is the center of our beings.

a. Our spiritual heart controls our wills and desires, our motives and actions.

b. It is the most important and vital part of ourselves.

c. Someone has said, “When God measures a person, He puts the tape around their heart, not around their head.”

4. Unfortunately, just as the physical heart can suffer from disease, so can the spiritual heart, and spiritual heart disease is more serious and deadly than physical heart disease.

5. I can’t emphasize enough how important our spiritual hearts are.

6. Proverbs 4:23 says: Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.”

C. Today, as we move into Mark chapter 4, we enter into one of the only two chapters of Mark that focus on Jesus’ teachings – chapters 4 and 13.

1. Last week in chapter 3, we saw that some people around Jesus had some heart problems.

2. Jesus’ on family had concerns and doubts about Jesus, and the religious leaders had decided that Jesus’ power had come from the devil himself.

3. I believe that Jesus taught this parable and then explained it to His disciples because so much of what their mission would entail had to do with sowing the Word of God and trying to deal with people’s different kinds of hearts.

D. Mark 4 begins: 1 Again he began to teach by the sea, and a very large crowd gathered around him. So he got into a boat on the sea and sat down, while the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore. 2 He taught them many things in parables…(Mk. 4:1-2a)

1. We notice that Jesus was again teaching a large crowd by the sea, and to protect Himself and to aid with the projection of His voice Jesus got into a boat and pushed out a little from the shore and sat down and taught from the boat.

2. And His teaching consisted mainly of parables.

3. A parable is a story about a real-life situation from which a spiritual truth can be drawn.

a. The word “parable” literally means “to throw alongside.” (parallel)

b. It is a comparison, an illustration, or an analogy.

c. In a parable, something abstract concerning spiritual things is thrown beside something concrete concerning earthly things so that we can understand the spiritual.

d. Parables are not allegories which require every detail be interpreted.

e. Rather parables teach a primary principle and its applications.

4. We will touch on why Jesus taught in parables when we get to verses 10-12 in a few minutes.

E. Mark recorded Jesus’ parable: 3 “Listen! Consider the sower who went out to sow. 4 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 didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly, since the soil wasn’t deep. 6 When the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it didn’t produce fruit. 8 Still other seed fell on good ground and it grew up, producing fruit that increased thirty, sixty, and a hundred times.” 9 Then he said, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.” (Mk. 4:3-9)