Defenseless to Defended--Chapter 2: The Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-10)
Satan seeks to devour a believer’s life. Satan wants to block joy from the life of a believer. Let’s begin the discussion of why Satan is so venomous in Mark 4. Mark 4 tells the Parable of the Sower. For reference purposes, the Sower is the believer.
Mark 4:1-2 states, “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.”
Before we go any further in this passage, a parable is defined as “a simple story used to illustrate (show) a moral or spiritual lesson, as told by Jesus in the Gospel.” Based on this definition, Jesus Christ, who is and continues to be fully God and fully man (John 10:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21), is communicating a spiritual lesson in the parable that he beginning to speak to the large crowd that was gathered about him near the sea. Geographically, this sea is most likely the Sea of Galilee. So, to continue.
Mark 4:3-9 states, “Listen! Behold, a Sower 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, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
When the crowd dispersed, Jesus was alone. Those around Jesus with the twelve disciples asked Jesus about the parables. And Jesus said to them, “To you had been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” (Mark 4:10-12). And Jesus then turned to the disciples and asked them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13).
After he asked this rhetorical question, he began to explain the parable. He explained the parable, “The Sower sows the word. And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and take away the word that is sown in them.” (Mark 4:14-15). If Jesus was here today, I would ask him, what does it mean that “Satan immediately comes and take away the word that is sown in them?” How can Satan immediately come and take away the Word that is sown in them? Does this mean that the seeds along the path are those who are False teachers within the church? He continues, “And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the one who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while, then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away” (Mark 4:16-17). This is describing a lot of Christians today including me, who is the writer of Defenseless to Defended: How God defends believers against Satan’s Venomous Attacks. I struggle with trusting God in the midst of tribulation.
Sometimes, Pastors betray the Word of God because staying true to the Word of God could distort their worldly image. When they feel like they are persecuted because they believe a certain way, this feeling causes the pastor to adapt the message and disregard the true message contained in the Bible. Pastors should not give into the pressure of this present evil age because Jesus Christ has delivered the believers from the pressure of this present evil age (Galatians 1:1-3).
Today, so many people are willing to distort the Word of God to maintain the audience. They are giving into the audience who wants to hear what the itching ear wants to hear. This is what it refers to as the ones who are treading on the rocky ground. We should not settle on the rocky ground because it does not create a firm foundation of the Word of God to rest on.
Jesus continues to explain the Parable to the twelve, “And 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” (Mark 4:18-19). I have to admit that the cares of the World (1 Peter 5:7 “Cast your cares upon him because he cares for you”) sometimes come into my life and causes me to betray the message of the Word of God. Betraying the Word of God to live a worldly life is not worth it. Sometimes, I stumble onto this soil and it cause me to betray the message of the Word of God. I should not betray God’s Word. I should sow the next soil which is the best soil.
Jesus, then explains the soil that we should sow on. He states, “But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” We should always sow on this soil but it is not easy to sow on this soil because we are born with a sin nature and wrestles with our good nature. Like Paul states in Romans, we should renew our minds through the power of the Holy Spirit. When we listen to the Holy Spirit, we are most likely to sow on the soil. However, Satan slithers around this soil and tries to stop us from sowing on the good soil by penetrating our relationship with God with toxic venom that comes from the fangs of Satan. God defends our soil by the Word of God. When the Word of God lives in our hearts, we are able to counterattack Satan’s venomous attacks.
Satan’s venomous attacks can also affect us mentally. I daily battle Satan’s venomous attacks. When we abide in God’s Word and draw nearer to God, we can feel his presence in our life and it helps us feel great comfort and have a divine defense deterrent to Satan’s venomous attacks. Satan’s venomous attacks can come in ebbs and flows and that is why we should plant seeds on the easy to plant ground. When we plant God’s word in our hearts, it can help us resist the devil. When we resist the devil, he will flee from us. We do this by having a great church fellowship, a devout prayer life, and a great devotion time with God. Our defense mechanism is as strong as our relationship with God. We need to plant on the easy to plant ground so that we can grow the spiritual seeds in our life to resist the devil so that he can flee from us.
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