LOVING GOD AND HEARING GOD
The Gospel of Mark #13
Pastor Dennis Clanton
Woodland Church
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
THE CONDITION OF MY HEART DETERMINES HOW WELL I LISTEN.
“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do it from that motive. It is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us.” – Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
(Mark 4:1–20, NLT) “Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant. He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.’”Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
(Mark 12:29, NIV) “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
Like the land the condition of the heart determines success or failure of the seed planted.
Only sowing will lead to a harvest.
(Jesus, Mark 1:38, NLT) “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.”
(Jesus, Mark 2:17, NLT) “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
The Word of God will prosper!
(Isaiah 55:10–11, NLT) “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”
Despite my challenges and failures, there will be success, if I am faithful!
(Mark 4:8, NLT) “Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
Those who love and hear gather together around Jesus.
(Mark 4:10, NLT) “Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.”
1. Satan is a danger if I listen indifferently with a hard heart.
(Mark 4:15, NLT) “The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away.”
Once he was in the street the battle was won. I showed him a newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No. 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come into a man’s head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of “real life” [by which he meant the bus and the newsboy] was enough to show him that “that sort of thing” just couldn’t be true. – C. S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters, pp 12-14
(Mark 3:22, NLT) “But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.”
2. Shallow faith robs me of listening daily to God.
(Mark 4:16–17, NLT) “The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.”
(Mark 9:33–34, NLT) “After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.”
3. Anxiety about life and selfish acquisition crowd out the voice of God .
(Mark 4:18–19, NLT) “The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced.”
A divided heart is an unfaithful heart.
4. The good soil represents those who listen immediately, deeply, and exclusively.
(Mark 4:20, NLT) “And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”
GROWTHWORK
1. SHARE WITH EVERYONE; DON’T PREJUDGE THE SOIL.
2. SUCCESS COMES FROM THE LORD.
(1 Corinthians 3:7, NLT) “… God makes the seed grow.”
3. SOWERS ARE CALLED TO BE FAITHFUL.