Transcript Sowing the Seed

Sowing the Seed
Mark 4:26-29
The Parables of Mark 4
 Parable of the Soils (Mark 4:1-25)
 Parable of the Seed (Mark 4:26-29)
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the
soil;
27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and
grows—how, he himself does not know.
28 “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature
grain in the head.
29 “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the
harvest has come.”
 Parable of the Mustard Seed (Mark 4:30-34)
Three Ways to Witness
Sharing a Word of Truth
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Briefly imparting a single truth about God
A casual, brief witness – Frank Noble “Have you heard the good news today?”
May take less than 30 seconds
Sharing a Word of Testimony
2.
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The difference Christ has made in your life
Emphasis should be on WHY you came to Christ
May take 5 minutes or more – Paul – Acts 26:1-23
Sharing the Plan of Salvation
3.
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From Scripture - how to come to know Christ personally – “Roman Road”
May use a tract or a drawing of the bridge illustration
Usually takes 10-15 minutes
The Parable of the Seed
Parable of the soils comes just before and appears in
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Mark 4:1ff
Matthew 13:1ff
Luke 8:4ff
On either side of the parable of the seed, there are parables
about sowing:
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“Soils” = role of the one receiving the Word
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The Parable of the Soils is a critical parable
Jesus says that if you do not understand this parable of the soils, you will
not understand any of them
“Mustard Seed” = you can trust the seed to bear fruit
The Parable of the Seed
What we can do and what we cannot do!
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We can sow
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We can not cause the seed to bring forth life
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That is our part
That is God’s work
We can reap – but only when the crop permits!
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That is the person’s part
The Parable of the Seed
What we can know and what we cannot know
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We can know that there is life in the Word of God
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It is living and powerful!
It is incorruptible seed which lives and abides forever!
We cannot know exactly how this works!
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But we can see the result of its work
The Parable of the Seed
What we should expect and what we should not expect
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We should expect to see fruit
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We should expect to see the seed ripen
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This allows us to work believing, expecting to see fruit
fisherman vs. farmers
Zechariah 4:10 – Do not despise the day of small things
We should not expect a full harvest from every seed
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The soil has a part in the harvest, too
The soil is the heart of the person receiving the seed
Most of the problems with a harvest are with the soil!
The Simple Procedure vv. 26-27
The steps for the harvest
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The man scatters the seed
Then the seed springs up and grows
Then the earth brings forth fruit
And then the harvest is brought in
Planting the Seed - v. 26
“casts” = scatters – aorist tense verb
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At one time he did it – the one act that the man did
The 1st step toward a harvest
Feed your soul first, but then sow the Word!
Where do you scatter the seed?
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Matthew 13:38 “The field is the world!”
The Attitude of Faith - v. 27
Having sown the seed, the man rests!
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Present tense verb – He continually rests!
Jesus says this is the way it is in the Kingdom of God (v. 26)
He goes to bed, then he gets up the next day, then he goes to bed,
then he gets up
That routine goes on and on and on!
Meanwhile, the seed is sprouting and growing
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Present tense verbs, too
The seed keeps on sprouting up and growing, sprouting up and
growing!
The Attitude of Faith - v. 27
“He himself” is minor emphasis in Greek
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He himself doesn’t even know it!
“How” - not there in Greek
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All the translations say - How this happens, the man does not know
This is true, but not what the passage says!
The man did not even know about it!
The man sowed the seed, then went to bed and got up the next day
and had forgotten it after he threw the seed!
After you sow the seed
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You go home, and with an attitude of faith, you go to bed
You rise the next day, and you forget about what you have done!
The Secret Providence - v. 28a
The mystery of eternal life!
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All “by itself ” the seed sprouts and grows!
The key to the passage
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“by itself ” = αυτοματη = ‘automate’
Major emphasis in the Greek text!
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God is shouting this at us!
“The earth brings for fruit automatically”
This is exactly what Jesus said!
The Harvest Is Brought In - v.29
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1st the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn
in the ear
Faith is beginning to grow in the person!
Then, when the crop permits
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When the crop permits, immediately Jesus puts forth the sickle
because the harvest has come
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aorist tense verb – occurs at one point in time
How do I know that it is Jesus?
Revelation 14:14-16
Matthew 13:37
The growth of the Word of God in a person’s heart is automatic
after the seed is cast!
Look at the Harvest!
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Everybody likes to be around when the
harvest comes in (invitation time)
Spiritual people like it
Carnal people like it
It looks like success!
But not too many people get excited about sowing
seed!
It is not very exciting work
There will not be any harvest if the seed are not sown!
The problem today - not enough seed are being sown!
Look at the Harvest!
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When the seed is sown, the growth is
automatic!
What do you want to spend the rest of your life
doing?
“Brother Daniel, how can we sow seeds?”
Seed Sowing
Isaiah 55:11
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David Gomez – Brazil missionary
Dutch Schwartz – Midland, Michigan
Joe Bining – Chicago immigrant – 1920’s
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So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to
Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the
thing for which I sent it
Bob Bining – saved Wheaton College Bible Camp
“Do you remember that day at the pool?”
Ernie Davis – Amsterdam train station
Seed Sowing
 It was a sunny spring day when the
Time
September 11, 2000
word of God fluttered out a bus
window and landed at Ma Xingling's
feet. As he looked up at the crowded
bus, the 32-year-old Chinese factory
worker caught sight of a blond woman
releasing Christian pamphlets into the
air. Ma never saw her again, but the
woman's airborne message stayed with
him.
 Today, five months after he first read
the booklet, Ma leads a dozen
underground worshippers near
Changsha, capital of central Hunan
province. “Christianity fills my heart,”
he says of his illegal religious activity. “It
makes the problems of today's society
much more tolerable.”
Seed Sowing
 1950 - Peter Culver – youth leader
Dr. Francis Dixon
Pastor, Lansdowne Baptist Church
Bournemouth, England
The Man from George Street
 "During the Second World War in
1945 I was stationed in Sydney,
Australia and one day as I was
walking down George Street a
middle-aged man walked up to me
and said, "Excuse me sir, could I
just ask you one question. Please
don't be offended, but if you were
to die tonight where would you
spend eternity? Would it be in
heaven or would it be in hell? For
the Bible says it is going to be one
place or the other. Good-bye and
God bless you.'
 1950 - Peter Culver – youth leader
The Man from George Street
 "During the Second World War in
1945 I was in the Royal Navy and
one day as I was walking down
George Street in Sydney when a
middle-aged man walked up to me
and said, "Excuse me sir, could I
just ask you one question. Please
don't be offended, but if you were
to die tonight where would you
spend eternity? Would it be in
heaven or would it be in hell? For
the Bible says it is going to be one
place or the other. Good-bye and
God bless you.'
 1950 - Peter Culver – youth leader
 1953 – Norwell – personal
testimony
The Man from George Street
 1950 - Peter Culver – youth leader
 1953 – Norwell – personal
testimony
 Adelaide – Murray Wilkes
 Perth – Deacon in Freemantle
Baptist Church
The Man from George Street
1950 - Peter Culver – youth leader
1953 – Norwell – personal testimony
Adelaide – Murray Wilkes
Perth – Deacon in Freemantle Baptist
Church
 Lansdowne Baptist –Young lady
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 WWII , Wrens, Sydney, George St.
 1957 - India – Woman with group of
missionaries
 Jamaica – Missionary conference
 Missionary couple
 Keswick Meeting – Elderly pastor
 Georgia – Navy Chaplain
The Man from George Street
 Next trip to Australia -
Sydney!
 Friend: Alex McGilchrist
 “Do you know a little man
who shares the gospel on
George Street?”
 “Sure, that’s Mr. Jenner.”
Frank Jenner
The Man from George Street
 Shared the gospel with 10
people every day for 28
years!
 10 x 365 x 28 = 102,200
 What did Mr. Jenner do
every night?
 He went home, went to
Frank Jenner
bed, and the next morning
he got up again!
Matthew 10:32-33
32
Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will
also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny
before My Father who is in heaven.
The Man from George Street
 Mr. Jenner’s life is a wonderful testimony of how God can use
those who remain faithful to Him
 Those who knew Frank Jenner testify that
 His nature was generous and warm
 He quickly inspired trust in others
 His life was marked by persistence in prayer
 Frank Jenner got to the heart of the issue:
 He directly challenged lost people about their standing before God!
Seed Sowers
 Once you sow the seed of the Word of God, the harvest
comes forth automatically!
 How do you want to spend the rest of your life?