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What kind of Dirt are You? Mark 4:3-9 and13-20 

• Hosea 10:12 “break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD…”
• James 1:21 “… in humility receive the word implanted, which
• Is able to save your souls.”
• Sower is God Seed is his word Soil is the heart Crop is the fruit
• Sower is the same in the parable and in the explanation
• Word is the same in the parable and
• Heart is the difference
• Wayside heart- hardened- on the path- packed hard
• Stony heart- you’ll catch whatever comes along- but no discernment SHALLOW
• Thorny heart- Love too many things in life- no seed can grow among other weeds WEEDS
• Good groud- Clean. Deep. Fresh. Ready.

1. First Heart- Hard heart

• ³ “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. ⁴ And it happened, as he sowed, thatsome seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
• Now the wayside is the side on the edge of where you plant crops. It’s the part that doesn’t get tilled- its really hard, and you can’t grow anything on it
• What Jesus is saying about the sower- is that some seed falls on it- and it just lays there- and birds come and snatch it up- Hard clay in back yard for grass- same thing-
• The seed isn’t the problem- the soil is the problem- too hard- too firm- not willing to receive the seed. Often times we think it’s the message- NO- it’s the heart of hearer
• Jesus explains
• ¹⁵ And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
• Jesus says that the wayside heart people have hard hearts. Satan comes right away and steals up the word that was sown in their hearts
• John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
• In this parable, and to Jesus- it is clear- the message isn’t the problem, it’s the heart of the hearer- and having it work in conjunction with Satan.
• Because- Satan has no joy in having the word of God have affect in anyone’s lives
• Satan saw that with how Jesus dealt with him, BY THE WORD- so he wants to steal it away

• What does it mean to you
• First off- you need to do a heart check- Do I have a hard heart- is my heart not ready to receive the word of God
• ESV- Ephesians 4:18English Standard Version (ESV) They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
• Many people don’t understand the things of God and are alienated from the life of God because they have a hard heart
• Proverbs 28: 14 Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity
• The bible says that if you have a hardened heart you will fall into calamity-
• What is great is that Proverbs 28: 13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
• A hardened heart is one where you are living in a perpetual state of sinful behavior with no repentance or sorrow
• But the Bible says that if you reveal your transgressions (James says to confess them one to another) and forsake them you will obtain mercy
• God understands the hard heart and makes provision to soften it- REPENTANCE
• When you turn away from sin- you gain grace because you’re embracing the grace of God
• God has grace for you!
• 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
• Here’s the truth- If you’re here- when the word of God hits you- you WANT those promises- of course you do! Who wouldn’t? but SATAN doesn’t want you to have those victories- he doesn’t want you to experience grace
• He wants you to experience condemnation and destruction- so he steals it away

1. Second heart- the weak heart

• ⁵ Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have 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.
• I call it the weak heart because it can’t handle the sun- When the heat comes it withers away
• What’s interesting about this heart is that it wants growth- it wants what God can do with it- It just doesn’t have the right kind of heart to grow in God’s grace
• ¹⁶ These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
• See- they receive it with gladness- but NO ROOT- they only endure for a time
• These are the people who constantly come in and out of church and in and out of a relationship with God
• Hey- I’m back….until “persecution arises for the word’s sake”
• That term right there is such a deep spiritual nugget- if you receive the word with Gladness- inevitably you’re going to start to show some fruit from the seed- but when you start to grow- PERSECUTION- and when that comes- because they didn’t have the right heart- they can’t deal with it
• What does it mean to you
• You have got to build up a strong heart to be able to withstand the persecution that comes from being a Christian immediately after receiving the word
• Here’s the deal- you know if you’re heart is weak, because you’ve been through the back and forth cycle of fruit-sun-death and it always comes when you’re trying to live for God
• You endure for a time- just like the word- but the persecution KILLS you
• Come to church- get built up- by Wednesday you’re doing what everyone else is
• How do you built it?
• YOU DON’T HAVE TO- Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

• Romans 12:3bas God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
• But we need to feed- on the word of God- Matt 4:4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” YOU LIVE ON WHAT YOU EAT ON
• Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
• The key to cultivating the weak heart to strong heart is to exercise the faith that you do have
• Watch what happens when you start to saturate your life with the word of God- things happen
• Receive with gladness- but then FEED THE FIRE- till the soil- saturate with the word of God to be able to withstand the attacks
• Revelation 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
• What ruins this persons seed is a heart that wont endure past trials
• 2 Corinthians 12:10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
• 2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

1. Third heart- the Thorny heart

• See the first heart is hard- the seed never gets a chance. The second heart is weak- it can’t sustain- but the third heart is the worst- it grows a bit and gets choked out
• . ⁷ And some seedfell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
• This seed grows- ever so slightly- but THORNS grow up around it- and CHOKE IT
• ¹⁸ Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they arethe ones who hear the word, ¹⁹ and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. –
• There are three things that rule the thorny heart
• Cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, desires for other things
• Those three things are the THORNS that CHOKE out the word in the life of the heart
• A Divided heart that doesn’t desire the things of God- but desires the things of this world
• They don’t care about what is really happening with God, his church, or his people
• They are concerned with what the world is concerned with- elections, promotions, competitions, and recreations
• They are deceived into thinking that RICHES will satisfy more than the things of GOD so they connive, work and manipulate to acquire the riches of the world instead of GOD
• Better house, better car, better clothes, better stuff, more vacations, more money
• AND the desires for OTHER THINGS- that right there is all encompassing- what are the other things? Basically anything that pulls you away from God and HIS things
• WHATEVER that may be- YOU KNOW what that OTHER thing is
• What does it mean to you
• Get your heart right

• Care about the things of God more than the things of this world
• Love investing in the things of God than riches Luke 12:15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
• Matthew 6:19-20 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
• Want to break yourself of the love of money? Start to tithe. 10% on the gross. It’ll change you
• Coveting will keep you out of heaven
• Pray for God to give you godly desires rather than desires for this world
• Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
• hear the word- cares of this world- deceitfulness of riches- desire for other things choke the word it becomes unfruitful
• 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1. Fourth heart- Good heart

• The good heart is the heart that is those who accept the word and bear fruit
• ⁸ But other seedfell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
• ²⁰ But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it,and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
• Hear it- accept it- and bear fruit- thirtyfold- sixtyfold- hundredfold
• That’s the heart that God is looking for- the one that doesn’t resist- that doesn’t fight it- that doesn’t argue with it- that doesn’t try to reason it away
• The crux of this parable is found in the “good ground” and that good ground is the heart of the person who is receiving the word of God

• The opposite is refuse to hear it. Refuse to accept it. Don’t bear fruit
• What does it mean to you
• Hear it– Listen to what the word of God is saying to you- Preaching of the word is intended to give God Glory and spur you onto good works.
• John 8:47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
• Accept it Quit fighting God on his word. Take it at face value. The bible is the means by which we grow in our relationship with God. He speaks to us by it.
• 1 Thes 2:9-13 READ- ¹³ For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomeditnot as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.
• Bear Fruit- Honestly- many people don’t bear fruit because they don’t hear the word when its spoken and don’t accept it. Living a rebellious contentious existence expecting to be blessed
• Doesn’t work that way- give yourself over to what God is doing. Receive it in Jesus name!