Mark 4:1 ¶
And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto
him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and
the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And he taught them many things by parables,
and said unto them in his doctrine, 3
Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell
by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had
not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
6 But when the sun was up, it was
scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns
grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. 8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield
fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some
sixty, and some an hundred. 9 And he
said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 10 And when he was alone, they that were about
him with the twelve asked of him the parable. 11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given
to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these
things are done in parables: 12 That
seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not
understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins
should be forgiven them. 13 And he said
unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
14 The sower soweth the word. 15 And these are they by the way side, where the
word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh
away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when
they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure
but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the
word’s sake, immediately they are offended. 18
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19 And the cares of this world, and the
deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the
word, and it becometh unfruitful. 20 And
these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and
receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some
an hundred.
This
was all the crowd heard out of that parable. Jesus purposely left them in the
dark. If we just had this we wouldn’t have a clue what we were talking about.
Jesus gives more truth only to those who want more truth. Those who don’t
really want more truth will be deceived. This parable is also spoken in Matthew
13:1-23. We’ll start with the explanation.
Mark
4:10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of
him the parable.
Those
who wanted to know came to Him to know more.
1
Peter 1:9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10
¶ Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:11 Searching what, or what
manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow. 12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us
they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have
preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which
things the angels desire to look into.
The
Old Testament Jews didn’t understand about the future as in Isaiah 53 because
it was given to Isaiah for the sake of those who would come later who wanted
the truth. This is why they weren’t looking forward to the Cross. They didn’t
understand it. Their hearts were hardened and they were not given the whole
story.
Mark
4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the
kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in
parables:
To
these people who want the truth God promises to give more truth. Read your
Bible once through and God will give you truth. Read it through multiple times
and you’ll keep growing as He gives you more truth. Later on we’ll see that if
you reject what little truth He has given you, He’ll take away what little you
have. There will be a great test for Christians. The more you read the greater
the challenge will be when Satan attacks you with unbelief. The closer you get
to God, the deeper the mud, the thicker the briars. The Christian must keep
pushing through toward the goal of knowing God and ignore Satan’s pleas and
attacks and his deceptions. This is not about salvation but about your
sanctification, being set apart for God’s purpose through Jesus Christ.
Many
people who get deceived start out with the right intention but one little twist
of the truth takes them far off the mark. Just be after God’s truth and what is
right, and plead with Him not to let you be deceived or to deceive others which
was one of the prayers of the translators of this Bible according to their
letter to the readers.
Mark
4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and
not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins
should be forgiven them.
Deuteronomy
29:4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and
ears to hear, unto this day.
Isaiah
6:9 ¶ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand
not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat,
and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be
healed.
Isaiah
44:18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that
they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
Jeremiah
5:21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have
eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
Isaiah
66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them;
because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but
they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
2
Thessalonians 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they
should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the
truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
If
you reject salvation and truth then God will deceive you. Yes, our Creator will
deceive men who reject His salvation. God examines the heart and what happens
after that is up to Him if you are worshipping self. I have been to a few
church services that were humanistic in execution and were self-worship. God
will propound that foolishness which serves only Satan by deluding those self-worshippers.
Mark
4:13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know
all parables?
This
indicates that the sower and the seed is a foundational parable which is the
key to understanding all the parables.
No comments:
Post a Comment