What Hinders Fruitfulness? | Mark 4 | Gary Hamrick

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] we're here in mark's gospel chapter four i'm gonna read the first nine verses mark chapter four and starting at verse one and again he began to teach by the sea that is jesus and a great multitude was gathered to him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea and then he taught them many things by parables and said to them in his teaching listen behold a sower went out to sow and it happened as he sowed that some seed fell by the wayside and the birds of the air came and devoured it and some fell on stony ground where it did not have much earth and immediately it sprung 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 and some seed fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no crop but other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up increased and produced some 30-fold some 60 and some a hundred and he said to them he who has ears to hear let him hear let's pause there and pray father in the same way we pray that we would have ears to hear what you would say to us today through this passage and that the words of jesus would be true today as much as they were true on the day that he spoke them and that we would take to heart these things and learn and do what you say so we thank you for this time we have together we just worship you and exalt you and we glorify you use your word now to strengthen us we pray in jesus name and everybody said amen well the location of our story is the sea of galilee doesn't tell us specifically where but more than likely it's on the shoreline of the city of capernaum that's where jesus's home base of ministry was for three years in the scene it tells us here in what we just read that a great multitude of people have come to see jesus and to hear him and so in order not to be crushed by the crowd jesus gets in a boat pushes off just a little distance from the coast and he begins to teach the people who were standing on the land facing the water where jesus was seated in a boat and the water also served not just to create a little safe distance between himself and the crowd but also as a natural amplification for his voice as his voice would bounce off the water and the crowd could hear him better and he teaches what is commonly referred to here in our bibles what i just read the parable of the sower now we've talked about what parables are many times but for those of you who are new to it a parable is basically a story drawn from everyday life to illustrate a deeper truth and jesus often employed parables to help communicate a deeper spiritual truth the point was not always obvious up front it required his listeners or in our case his readers to try to understand the deep implication of what he's talking about here and when you look at this parable with me there are three elements three primary elements we have a sower some translations say a farmer one who casts the seed we have the seed itself and we have soil and there is one sower in this parable there is one type of seed but there are four different types of soil and so i'll list them for you on the screen it tells us some soil was by the wayside or some translations say along the path that's verse four some of the soil was on stony ground or rocky places some translations say some of the soil was among thorns that's verse 7 and some of the soil was good ground or some translations say good soil that's verse 8. and as a result of these various types of soil some of the seed amounted to nothing depending on where it landed and some of the seed produced a great harvest in varying amounts by the way now it tells us further past what i read earlier in verse 10 if you glance at verse 10 it tells us that some people got jesus alone privately and asked him questions about this parable because again it's sometimes confusing and so some people were able to get him to the side and say you know jesus what is what are you talking about here so verse 10 says but when he was alone those around him with the twelve his own disciples they weren't always the sharpest knife in the drawer i can relate all right with the twelve asked him about the parable so they start probing him what does this mean now had i been there in that day i would have had a question because when i read this parable this is where i get stuck and this is just my learning style you know i apologize but like when i was in college i had a professor with a really long beard and as he was talking he would stroke it like this and as he was stroking it i was wondering what lives in there like is a squirrel going to jump out at some moment and i lost track of what he was saying so that's the kind of guy i am so i would have been like jesus geez i have a question i have a question so what's the deal with the farmer why isn't he more careful you know it just seems like a haphazard he's just like you know and some of it lands on thorny ground and some of it on stony ground and some of it on the path like what's the deal with the farmers this angry farmer angry farmers are like i don't care yeah is he a drunk farmer like had too much sauce and he's just like can't seem to lay the seed in a straight row and of course jesus would have answered me oh yeah you know you are missing the point and you want to be a pastor that's what he would have said to me but jesus tells us the point because this is one of the few parables that jesus actually explains for us and i'm thankful that he does we can't get tripped up on some of the details because some of it is not really the point of the matter and so between verses 13 and 20 he explains what the whole parable means so that's helpful to people like me but before we read those verses and dive into what the parable means let me first say this this is a parable the parable of the sower that a lot of christians read and then they try to determine what soil are they and it causes angst among some people who read this parable and then try to think am i the good soil am i producing fruit because if i'm not am i thorny soil am i am i am i stony soil am i soil along the path what kind of soil am i am i even really saved you know that's what happens with people they start to read this and if you don't think that about yourself you start to think that about other people don't you you're like there's a thorny christian right there i don't even know that person's saved who do they think they are they're not showing much fruit you know and then we become fruit inspectors right okay so don't like don't wig out about this parable here because i'll be frank with you i don't believe this parable is about who is saved and who isn't saved although there is an element of salvation in this parable and i'll touch on it when we get to it but i think more so this parable is about who is fruitful and who is not and more importantly what hinders fruitfulness in the life of the believer that's really the heart of the story here now when i say fruitfulness what am i talking about when we talk about being fruitful as christians what we mean is do we exemplify the characteristics the qualities and the virtues of jesus more and more in our lives that's fruitfulness and the implication in that when we talk about being more fruitful that is to bear more witness to the characteristics qualities and virtues of jesus the implication is that at the same time we're dying to self we're dying to our own attitudes we're crucifying the flesh more and more so that it's less of us and more of jesus and that that becomes more exemplary more noticed in our lives the qualities the characteristics and the virtues of jesus that's what we mean by fruitfulness and jesus calls us to be fruitful in john chapter 15 verse 8 jesus says by this my father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so you will be my disciples he calls us to be fruitful now don't let that concern you either what what does that mean and like how can i be fruitful and what constitutes fruitfulness because jesus also tells us in john's gospel chapter 15 that if you're connected to him if you have relationship and fellowship with him you will naturally bear fruit in the same way that a branch connected to a vine in a vineyard will naturally bear grapes just by virtue of the fact that it is connected to the vine and jesus uses that language in john 15 verse 5. listen he says i am the vine you are the branches he who abides in me okay has relationship with me fellowship with me and i in him bears much fruit so it will be as natural to bear fruit for jesus in a relationship with him as it is to be a branch connected to a vine and bear grapes it's just a natural thing so don't let this become some kind of works oriented thought where the parable of the sower means i got to do this i got to do that i got to perform this way i got to work that way in order to show myself bearing fruit that i belong to jesus it will happen naturally the key is you abide in him he and you you have that close relationship then you will bear much fruit so keep that in mind as we read the explanation because then jesus says to us okay here's what i was talking about look at your bibles verses 13 to 20. still there in chapter 4 verses 13 to 20. and he said to them do you not understand this parable how then will you understand all the parables like that like if you don't get this you're going to be lost with the rest of them he says in verse 14 the sower sows the word notice and these first group these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown when they hear satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts that's the first group the first soil verse 16 second soil these likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who when they hear the word immediately receive it with gladness and then they have no root in themselves and so endure only for a time afterward when tribulation or persecution arises for the words sake immediately they stumble third group third type of soil verse 18. now these are the ones sown among thorns they are the ones who hear the word and the cares of this world the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful but these are the ones this is the last group this is the one that you want to be verse 20 but these are the ones sown on good ground those who hear the word accept it and bear fruit some 30 fold some 60 and some a hundred so when he explains it we we get some clarity here don't we and and this much is clear the first thing is the seed in the parable is a picture of the word of god he says it right there uh in verse in verse uh 14 the sower sows the word so the seed is a picture of the word in other words the gospel the good news of jesus the bible the truth of god's word that's the seed the sower is anyone who spreads that good news who shares that good news and it isn't just restricted to like professional clergy this is any of us as we share the good news the gospel of jesus we're we're sowing seed we're sowing the word of god we're scattering it and then he mentions here about the soils and what we begin to realize is that the soils represent different conditions of how the gospel is received and believed by people which contributes to the fruitfulness of that individual or the lack thereof but please notice that the condition of the soil is not the only thing that determines fruitfulness that might be where it all begins but that's not the only thing and why do i say this think about it in in the natural terms those of you still live mainly in western loudoun maybe farming is still a thing that that you do and you understand uh better than most of us but but you know any of us can understand that there are some elements necessary in in a proper uh production of a crop and the fruitfulness of that crop the soil is just one component it has to be good soil but what about also other elements like it has to be the right temperature if it's too cold if it's too hot that affects the crop the right moisture rainfall sunshine you try to grow a crop in the shade good luck it won't be as fruitful and then there are other there are other elements that also don't contribute to the growth of the crop but hinder the crops like insects pestilence fungus those are all elements that all together impact the fruitfulness of that crop and in other words when you look at the natural world and the spiritual world because he's talking about this in spiritual terms in in nature there's a delicate balance and there's a delicate balance in our spiritual lives that determines fruitfulness and what jesus is teaching here is that just like in nature there are some things in our lives that can upset that delicate balance of being fruitful for jesus and so this is why i believe jesus emphasizes different aspects or elements that can hinder fruitfulness for example he mentions in verse 4 in the in the parable about birds birds are the enemies of fruitfulness because they're going to come and snatch the seed before it can even grow he talks in verse 6 about scorching sun the intensity of the heat can affect fruitfulness he mentions in verse 7 about thorns choking out fruitfulness and we would say maybe thistles or or weeds all those things can impact the fruitfulness of a crop and so jesus is translating modern everyday terms into the spiritual life of a believer and says listen if you want to be fruitful for me you have to be aware of certain things certain elements that are going to assault your desire to be fruitful for me this is what he's focusing on here with us and and this is the angle that we're going to take in our bible study so i'm going to share three things from what he unpacks for us three things that hinder our fruitfulness for jesus and the first soil that he mentions the first group is soil that is and seed that is thrown by the wayside that's that's verse 4 again and he tells us in the original part of the parable that birds come the enemy of the seed and birds come and snatch the seed they eat it they devour it and and there's no fruitfulness and then when jesus explains it in verse 15 he helps us to understand that the birds were symbolic of satan himself and he says in verse 15 and these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown when they hear satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts and so the first thing that hinders fruitfulness are satanic schemes satan is actively at work trying to hinder your fruitfulness for jesus he is now arguably this first example seems to be a commentary on salvation more than just fruitfulness because when when you read luke's account of this parable when luke quotes jesus in luke 8 12. he's a little more explicit in the wording listen what luke says in luke 8 12. those by the wayside are they are the ones who hear then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts lest they should believe and be saved so what luke helps us to understand when you compare his gospel with what mark writes is is that satan is actively at work trying to prevent you from even becoming a believer in jesus in the first place so there is an element of salvation to this parable but even still it is fair to say that in satan's attempt to prevent you from ever being a believer or in the fact that after you become a believer he's still at work to try to make you unfruitful the end result is the same he doesn't want anyone to be fruitful for jesus either by preventing you from getting saved or discouraging you after you are saved he is at work trying to prevent you from being fruitful to jesus and the bible tells us in second corinthians 4 4 paul would write the god of this age small g referring to satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of christ who is the image of god that's how much satan is at work trying to blind people who are unbelievers to the truth lying to them telling them that don't believe this this is baloney this is bunk you know all paths lead to god all this kind of nonsense that's what he's whispering and again even if he isn't successful in preventing you from becoming a believer he will still work hard at doing everything he can to prevent you from being fruitful to jesus and let me tell you how we typically will work through discouraging tempting accusing and lying to you that's the way he works discouraging you tempting you accusing you and lying to you now look some people want to dismiss satan as a fig as a figment of our imagination that he isn't really real and and uh or he's just a fictitious you know character in hollywood movies let me tell you something he's neither he's neither fictitious nor is he just this figment of our imagination he is a fallen angel of the highest order who one time a long time ago led an attempted coup in heaven because he wanted to ascend to the throne of god and he managed to persuade a third of the angels with him who rebelled with him against god god expelled them all from heaven cast them out of heaven and those fallen angels who rebelled with satan are now known as demons and they are in the unseen realm but they are actively involved in trying to dissuade you from even being a believer or discouraging you tempting you accusing you or lying to you in order to prevent you from being fruitful for jesus this is why paul would write in ephesians chapter six be strong in the lord and in his mighty power put on the full armor of god so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the powers of this dark world he's talking about spiritual beings in the dark world in the unseen realm and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms we need to get this if you don't first begin with believing the reality of satan and demonic warfare you will be the first prey if you're not wise to this and understand how he operates you're exactly the kind of person he's going to go for so we need to get this we need to be on our guard we need to put on the full armor of christ we need to understand that our strength is in the lord because satan is real demonic warfare is real and he wants to do everything he can to hinder you in your walk with the lord just by virtue of a little background on satan himself he is called the tempter in matthew 4 3 he is called the accuser in revelation 12 10. in john 8 44 jesus calls him a murderer calls him a liar and calls him the father of lies his name satan is spelled the same in hebrew satan and it translates enemy or adversary he is also in the new testament in the greek the devil he's called the devil and it's diabolos in the greek meaning accuser and in revelation 12 9 he's called the dragon he's called that ancient serpent and he's called the one who deceives the whole world he first appears in the bible in genesis 3 1 as a serpent who successfully tempted adam and eve he last appears in the bible in revelation 2010 where sometime in the future he will be cast into the lake of fire and tormented forever and ever for now we have to contend with him and listen to me on this he fights on the battleground of your mind he whispers lying thoughts accusing thoughts discouraging thoughts tempting thoughts he wants to get in your head in second corinthians 10 3 to 5 tells us for though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world on the contrary they have divine power to demolish strongholds we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of god and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to christ that is second corinthians 10 verse 5 and this is what we need to be doing because satan will try to lob every discouraging thought every lying thought every tempting thought every accusing thought and you have to take it captive you have to take it captive because he's going to constantly be doing this to you lying to you trying to convince you don't get saved and if you do get saved trying to convince you you're not really saved lying to you that you're not loved that you don't have what it takes that you're better off dead that you're ugly that you're stupid that you're not the biological gender of your birth that things are hopeless that she would be a better wife than the one you have that he would be a better husband than the one you have that just one more drink or one more hit will make everything better and on and on the lies go one after another every way satan can try to get in your head he will know what he is about understand and recognize when he's doing it and then take captive every thought in the name of jesus that's what we need to be about we we have to be wise to this kind of thing friends we have to be wise to this kind of thing and when you realize this is a thought that's not of the lord this is just this is right for the pit of hell then this is this is the simple prayer not today satan all right that's the way you start not today satan and then this this simple prayer list wait this simple prayer just lord i know that thought is not a view i take captive every thought in jesus name and i pray that you would replace that thought with your righteousness and peace in my mind pray that and a challenge to the husbands pray for your wives your wife's thought life her mind pray for her satan first went after eve in the garden to deceive her in her mind that god was not good and that god was holding back his best he went for the woman first meanwhile adam passively stood by and did nothing he should have stepped in he should have stepped in to protect his wife he should have taken his wife's face in his hands and said look at me look away from him don't look at him god loves you he loves me he wants his best for you and me don't rob yourself of god's best by believing this liar it's what he should have done he didn't step in husbands we need to step in and pray for our wives their minds their thoughts there's an eve factor here now let me make it clear men are just as susceptible to believing lies too but women are particularly vulnerable and husbands can be that prayer covering for them and dads for their daughters i don't say that to be patronizing i say that to be protecting and if any of you are offended by that then fine nobody has to pray for you good luck because this is serious stuff truth is i compliment you ladies because truth is generally speaking you are more trusting it is the reason why there are more women who are believers in jesus than men women outpace men in every category in terms of faith did you know that more women attend church more women are involved in bible studies more women report regular bible reading more women report regular prayer times more women report believing the fundamental doctrines of the faith than do men on every level so i say it as a complimentary thing because you ladies are generally more trusting but that can also be your achilles heel and therefore men need to step up and be a prayer covering for their wives and for their daughters and pray again i've believed my share of lives too men have to take captive every thought and make it obedient to christ too but husbands also need to step up and be a prayer covering for their wives and if you ladies or for that matter guys too if you're single then find a prayer partner and ask someone who will regularly pray over your thoughts and over your minds because i'm telling you it is the devil's battleground it is the devil's battleground and the bottom line is he does not want you to be fruitful for christ and so he works hard to prevent you from coming into relationship with christ and he works hard to discourage you after you come into relationship with christ so take captive every thought and make it obedient to christ and be fruitful for him now i got two more points and if you're looking at your watches how's he going to get through the next two they're not as long as the first point so relax but the second point has to do with the second group soil on stony ground seed is cast on stony ground look at what jesus says verse 16 and 17 these likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who when they hear the word immediately receive it with gladness and they have no root in themselves and so endure only for a time afterward notice when tribulation or persecution arises specifically for the word's sake immediately they stumble so the second thing that hinders fruitfulness is personal persecution and not just a garden variety type but a specific kind jesus says when you're persecuted for your faith for the sake of the word for the gospel for the good news when you're persecuted for your faith it tends to make a person less fruitful because we get discouraged we get weighed down we get attacked you know we get we get frustrated by the things that people might do to us now again this is persecution directed at you for your faith and it's only getting worse in our culture it's only getting worse i read an article at beliefnet.com and they had an article is there persecution in america because we're all aware i hope we are that as americans we have it really really good compared to a lot of christians in the rest of the world who are actually dying for their faith but beliefnet ran this article is their persecution in america and i think this is valid too that we need to be wise to this is what it said quote christian persecution is happening right here at home on our own soil many here are attacked for their faith too while it might not be at the level of beheadings or burn down churches as seen in other places of the world it still is a problem that is growing traditional christians are facing increasing intolerance in this country through the fines the lawsuits the jobs lost and the public disdain felt end quote and that's all true and the article goes on to talk about persecution in politics persecution on college campuses persecution in public schools persecution in businesses i mean think just of late you have a christian cake baker who gets sued because he doesn't want to bake a cake for a same-sex marriage you have a photographer a wedding photographer this is a case in our own congregation a guy who gets sued doesn't want to take pictures for a same-sex marriage and so get sued for that you have an organization a business like hobby lobby they're not going to pay for obamacare because in there it has abortifacient drugs it's against the green families personal christian convictions they're not going to pay for it that had to go all the way up to the supreme court to get a narrow majority ruling in their favor this is the kind of persecution that christians are facing the reality of our culture the equality act right now banging on the door the front door and its implication is devastating for churches and christian schools and christian organizations the government telling churches you have to limit the size of your worship services excuse me have you been on an airplane lately that's religious persecution as far as i'm concerned you're telling churches that you have to limit attendance or in some cases you have to shut down completely because of a pandemic that the cdc's own numbers say that in the united states 98 recovery rate what so and so when you look at the whole airport deal isn't it crazy how in the airport you have to social distance by six feet but in the airplane you can rub shoulders with strangers crammed together like sardines this inconsistency is ridiculous and whether or not it's intentional i don't know but the target is the church because to limit the freedom of worship guaranteed by our constitution's first amendment the overreach of government is infringing upon christians rights that's true the the former solicitor general of the united states and former circuit court judge ken starr those of you old enough may remember ken starr was also appointed as the special independent counsel for the white water investigation that led ultimately to the impeachment of former president bill clinton ken starr judge starr wrote a book recently just was published last week religious liberty and crisis exercising your faith in an age of uncertainty and he documents so this is just not made up like oh we're victims no he documents how religious liberties are being threatened and by the way i've been having conversation with judge starr he's going to be our special guest on wednesday night june the 16th and talk about this very issue so that's our wednesday night service june the 16th with judge ken starr mark it down you're going to want to be with us he's going to be here but listen there's this concerted effort to intimidate christians and to marginalize christians and to discredit christians and when you feel that persecution for your faith when the heat gets you know scorching so to speak and then it causes you to whether or not to be fruitful that's the illustration in the parable but we have to be mindful of the fact that jesus said in matthew 10 22 and you will be hated by all for my name's sake but he who endures to the end will be saved it's to be expected don't let it make you less fruitful for jesus be courageous be bold you don't need to be abrasive but just be courageous and bold about your faith in jesus be fruitful for him and don't kowtow to personal persecution the last group real quickly he talks about soil and seed among thorns and he unpacks it for us in verses 18 and 19. he says now these are the ones sown among thorns they are the ones who hear the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things entering in choke the word and it becomes unfruitful and so he tells us that the thorns really represent all these different desires of the world that will hinder fruitfulness worldly wants now look we have to live in this world but we can't allow the pull of this world to choke out our lives for jesus where we become more consumed with treasures and possessions and ambitions and pleasures more than living a fruitful life for christ it's very easy to start living for the horizontal and losing sight of the vertical getting all caught up in the world in life and worrying about money and the future and all these things that begin to weigh on our minds and in our hearts and we just need to step back and to realize that we live in the world but we can't allow the pull of the world to choke out our fruitfulness we have to be more devoted to jesus than we are to the things of this world and jesus reminds us in matthew 6 therefore do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for after all these things the gentiles seek for your heavenly father knows that you need all these things and then the next verse matthew 6 33 but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you and jesus ends this whole parable there in verse 20 reminding us again that these are the ones this is the optimal place to be these are the ones sown on good ground those who hear the word accept it and bear fruit some 30 fold some 60 and some 100. in other words notice he even says here that most the most fruitful people among us still will vary in their fruitfulness there's not one like what constitutes being really fruitful for jesus jesus says listen it varies 30 fold 60 fold 100 fold the main point is stay connected to jesus stay in fellowship and relationship with jesus and you will naturally produce fruit don't let these things hinder you from being fruitful for jesus amen amen amen let's pray together father thank you for this time and your word and thank you lord for this parable that would remind us that there are things that try to assault us in in our walk with you satan's schemes the personal persecution anti-christian stuff in this world and the world itself is often pulling at us trying to win our affection and devotion to steal us away from you but we're wise about these things now lord and we thank you for your word that instructs us in this way that we would be on our guard about the things that hinder our fruitfulness and that we instead would be men and women and young people who live our lives in such a way that we glorify you by bearing much fruit so we thank you lord for your goodness and your grace and we pray that each of us would live out our lives to the fullest that we would bear much fruit for you your characteristics your qualities your virtues on display in our lives in jesus name and everybody said amen amen god bless you all you

Channel: Cornerstone Chapel - Leesburg, VA

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Length: 38min 5sec (2285 seconds)

Published: Mon May 03 2021