Hello friends, and thank you for joining me in our daily reading from God's holy word. Today we're reading Mark chapter 4 in this lesson Jesus tells parables, stories with a point and he tells us how to hear his good news and then what to do with it. Now before we read let's pray. Our Father and Heaven give us ears to hear and give us eyes to see for your glory and our good in Jesus name.
Amen. Mark chapter 4. Again, he began to teach beside the sea and a very large crowd gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land and he was teaching them many things in parables and in his teaching he said to them. Listen, behold a sewer went out to sow and as he sowed some seed fell along the path and the birds came and devoured it.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil and immediately it sprang up since it had no depth of soil and when the sun rose it was scorched since it had no root it withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns and the thorns grew up and choked it and it yielded no grain. Another seed fell into good soil and produced grain growing up and increasing and yielding thirty fold and sixty fold and a hundred fold and he said he who has ears to hear let him hear. And when he was alone those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables and he said to them, to you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God but for those outside everything is imperable so that they may indeed see but not perceive and may indeed hear but not understand if less they should turn and be forgiven.
And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sewer sows the word and these are the ones along the path where the word is sown. When they hear Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them and these are the ones sown on rocky ground, the ones who when they hear the word immediately receive it with joy and they have no roots in themselves but endure for a while then when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word immediately they fall away.
Others are the ones sown among thorns, they are those who hear the word but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word and it proves unfruitful. But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit thirty fold and sixty fold and a hundred fold and he said to them, is the lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed and not on a stand for nothing is hidden except to be made manifest nor is anything secret except to come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear and he said to them, pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use it will be measured to you and still more will be added to you, for to the one who has more will be given and from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away.
And he said, the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, he sleeps and rises night and day and the seed sprouts and grows. He knows not how the earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear, but when the grain is right at once he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come. And he said, with what can we compare the kingdom of God or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which when sown on the ground is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out larger branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.
With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. On that day when Eman can come he said to them, let us go across to the other side. In leaving the crowd they took him with them in the boat just as he was and other boats were with him and a great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling, but he was in the stern of sleep on the cushion and they woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace be still and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. He said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Now man, this is God's word. Now let us think about it briefly. Some people Jesus says, hear God's word, but their hearts are like a well-worn path in a field, nothing grows on it. These he says are like the ones Satan snatches away the word from, like birds stealing seed on a path.
Some people he says, hear God's word, but their hearts are like stony soil. There's no room for roots, so whatever grows, withers, tough times come and they say, Jesus isn't worth it. Some people hear God's word, but their hearts are thorny soil. Other things grow that choke out the word.
The cares of this world or the desires for riches, strangles, the cares for heaven and the desire for God. But some people, by God's grace, have hearts that receive his word and it grows and it bears fruit. And so I ask you, has God given you that last kind of heart? If not, confess to him your heart is wrong, hard, shallow, divided, and ask him to give you a soft and receptive heart, for he opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Now if you're someone who has received the good news of the gospel that Jesus died for us in and was raised from the dead and we have forgiveness and new life in him, what should you do? Well don't hide it like a candle under a basket, let it shine. The truth in other words, you have received, give it to others. And who knows what God will do when you sow the seed and share the truth?
After all, his gospel slowly grows, but it does grow and it reproduces until the whole field is ready for harvest, he says, until his grace has brought everyone home to himself who comes to him through Jesus Christ. For Jesus says, my kingdom starts out small like a mustard seed, but eventually becomes a tree that fills the whole world. His kingdom you see is greater than all the other kingdoms of the world combined. His kingdom endures forever and nothing can snatch his people out of his kingdom because even the wind and the waves obey his voice.
And so there's room in this tree called the kingdom for you. As Paul says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved for with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the scripture says everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
That's good news. Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you for your word of grace and hope. Forgive us our sins and give us listening ears and hearts that bear free by your word.
Amen. Well, thanks again for listening in and I hope you'll join me next time.