The secret of Fruitfulness (Mark 4:1-20)

[Stephan Choe]

Thanksgiving Day,

Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024

Key verse 20: “But these are the ones who have been sown on good land: they hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some a hundred fold.”

Today we want to celebrate Thanksgiving. In the past, most people were farmers. That's why they celebrated with the fruits of their farming work. Today there are few farmers.

We can still look at fruits in the broader sense and thank God for them.

In the extended Sind, the good results of our work in the doctor's office, in the workplace and in our studies are also the fruits of our work.

And the multiplication of family members and relatives is also another fruit of our life. During our lifetime, our family members and relatives have increased incredibly significantly. That's why we should thank God for it.

But today I want to talk about the fruits of our spiritual labor, because we are spiritual farmers and we sow God's Word to reap spiritual fruits.

And we want to bring God many fruits of the Word of God and thank God for it. That's why I chose the parable of the sower as my sermon text.

Today we want to learn the secret of fertility in order to bring God lots of fruit.

1. The parable of the sower (1-9)

This story begins like this: “And he began to teach again by the lake. And a large crowd gathered around him...” (1).

Many people had come to Jesus, so he had to move to a boat by the lake. It was like a Bible conference.

Why had so many people come to him? - Probably because they needed various kinds of help, such as healing from sickness, relief from hunger or deliverance from oppression.

What did Jesus do for them? The second verse tells us: “(And) he taught them in parables” God's word.

Jesus taught them God's word Why did he teach them God's word even though they supposedly needed other help?

Because they needed God's word the most.

When Jesus had not eaten for forty days and forty nights at the beginning of his ministry and was tempted by the devil, he said: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4).

Jesus was right. God's word is the most necessary and the most important thing for us. Only God's word can save us from our lostness and make us children of God. Only God's word can give us forgiveness, eternal life and the kingdom of heaven. Only God's word can give us the right meaning and direction of life.

Jesus told the crowd the parable of the seed.

A farmer sows grain. A few grains fall on the path. But the path is as hard as concrete because of the foot traffic. The seeds therefore have no chance of penetrating the soil and taking root. And the birds are happy and peck at the seeds. So no trace of seeds remains.

Some seeds fall on rocky ground with a thin layer of soil. The seeds sprout, but as the sun burns, the seeds quickly dry up.

Some seeds fall under the thorns. The seed sprouts and grows a little. But the thorns choke the seed.

And some seeds fall on good land and bear fruit 30, 60 and 100 times over.

Finally, Jesus says: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

2. The interpretation of the parable (10-20)

The crowd goes home after the Bible conference. They say to themselves: “I understood Jesus' sermon well. I am not stupid. The sermon was very interesting. Now I have to concentrate on my work for bread.”

We can also say to ourselves after this service: “I understood Stephan's sermon well. I'm not stupid. So I don't need to think about the word anymore. I now have to concentrate fully on my work so that I can be successful.”

But some people thought that they had not understood Jesus' sermon well. That's why they stayed with Jesus after his sermon and said: “I didn't fully understand what you said. I am very slow to understand God's word. I would like to ask you what you meant by the parable.”

Jesus rejoices over these few people and says to them: “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those outside it all happens in parables, so that they may see with seeing eyes and yet not recognize it, and hear with hearing ears and yet not understand it, lest they should be converted and forgiven” (10.11).

These verses reveal two prerequisites for experiencing the mystery of the kingdom of God:

The first prerequisite is to be humble and willing to learn. Although most of the people have gone away after Jesus' sermon, some disciples stay with him and ask him about the meaning of the parable. They want to understand the meaning of the parable correctly and put its teaching into practice. Jesus encourages us to do this: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7).

The second prerequisite for experiencing the mystery is to remain inside with Jesus. In verse 11, Jesus says that those who remain outside do not recognize the mystery of the kingdom of God and that only those who are inside with Jesus can correctly recognize the meaning of the parable. To be inside with Jesus means to be bound to Jesus. This means believing in Jesus as Christ and his Lord and gladly following Jesus' way.

To believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead, and that Jesus Christ wants to lead our life to the kingdom of heaven. We will then receive forgiveness of sin and a new, eternal life, grow spiritually well and bear much fruit in our time. That is why we should not remain outside, but inside with Jesus.

Now Jesus explains the parable to us. He says: “The sower sows the word” (14).

So the sower means Jesus. When we spread God's word, we are also the sower. The seed means God's word. And the soil means our heart.

Seeds are of the best quality because they are God's word.

Just as a farmer sows seed with the conviction of a great harvest, Christ sows his word in our hearts with the expectation of a great harvest.

However, every farmer knows that the yield depends on the condition of the soil on which the seeds fall. In the same way, the yield of the divine word depends on the state of our heart.

There are someone whose hearts are like a hard road.

Jesus says: “But these are the ones in the way: when the word is sown, and they have heard it, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that was sown in them” (verse 15).

The ground of the way is as hard as cobblestones. That is why the seeds cannot penetrate the earth, but remain on it so that the birds can easily find and pick them up.

When does our heart become hard towards God's word?

When we have no spiritual desire, our heart is hard towards God's Word. Or: If we are very busy with something, our heart remains hard towards God's Word.

How can we change our hard heart into a good heart so that we can receive God's Word?

We need to awaken a spiritual desire and take enough time to hear God's Word and believe it. God will then give us a good heart for God's Word.

Jesus now explains the rocky ground to us: “Likewise also those who are sown on rocky ground: when they have heard the word, they immediately receive it with joy, but they have no root in themselves, they are fickle; when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, they immediately fall away” (16-17).

The word of God should take deep root in our hearts. This means that we should firmly believe in Jesus Christ and his word and remain firm in our faith despite the difficulties. You cannot transplant a grown tree into a warm room in winter because of the cold. It has to stay outside and endure the cold. But when spring comes, the tree receives water and nutrients, grows and bears fruit.

If we remain in Christ and his word, we receive much strength. God's word or Jesus Christ is the best source of strength for our growth and fruitfulness. It gives us wisdom and strength for eternal life.

Those who have taken deep root in Christ and his word can remain steadfast despite the storms, receive overflowing joy and strength, grow and bear much fruit. 

Jesus explains the thorny ground as follows: “And others are those who have been sown among thorns: they hear the word, and the worries of the world and deceitful riches and the desires for everything else penetrate and choke the word, and it remains without fruit” (18-19).

Jesus mentions worry as the first example of spiritual thorns.

Why do we worry? Because we have problems, of course. There is not a single person who does not have a problem at all. And when we have solved one problem, other problems arise. So we always have some kind of problem.

But the real cause of our worry is not the problem itself, but our unbelief in God. When we worry, we use three or four times as much energy as normal. That's why we have no more strength and no heart for God and other people. Of course, if we have problems, we should solve them with wisdom. But we must not worry unnecessarily, because in the worst case scenario we will only get to the kingdom of heaven a little faster than others. We should firmly trust in God and his providence.

Jesus mentions wealth as the second example of spiritual thorns. He calls it “deceitful riches”. Wealth or money deceives us, because people believe that if they had a lot of money, they would be able to fulfill all their wishes. In reality, money cannot fulfill as many wishes as we think. For example, you can't buy a faithful wife or husband with a lot of money. Nor can it buy a faithful boyfriend. Rather, money creates false expectations in us so that we rely on money instead of God.

Jesus mentions lust as the third example of spiritual thorns.

We should not give sexual lust or material desires a chance. Instead, we should trust God and consider and act in accordance with the Word of God.

Now let's see what has become of the seeds sown on a good land.

In verse 20, Jesus says: “But these are the ones who were sown on good land: they hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some a hundredfold.”

The secret of fruitfulness is: “Hearing (God's) word and accepting it”

“Accepting God's word” here means hearing God's word, believing it and obeying it.

In order to be fruitful, we need to hear God's word, believe it and obey it. We can call this the trinity of faith. God will then bless us and give us much fruit. This trinity is the secret to fruitfulness.

How much fruit can we bear if we hear God's word, believe it and obey it? Jesus says that we can bear fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold or a hundredfold.

That is true. A grain of wheat can bear fruit 30, 60 or 100 times. Each of us can bear fruit at least 30 times.

God's Word has incredibly wonderful power. We only think of our known Bible students as the result of our work. But God's Word, which we have sown through Bible study, does wonderful things.

I am currently copying the names of former Bible students from Esther's calendar books. I copied the Bible students of each co-worker from Esther's 1988 calendar book. Although many of the Bible students at that time did not become believers immediately, I think they eventually became believers and led others, such as their children, spouses or friends, to faith. I asked each missionary worker to add to their Bible student list, which I made based on Esther's calendar book. For example, the list from 1988 was

Renate Buchholz: Eva, Anja, Detlef, Petra, Eva-Maria

Joseph Kim: Michael Sander, Manfred, Ekkchard, Frank, Jaris

Paula Kim: Renate, Michael, Monika, Stephan, Thomas R, Anja

Esther Choe: Michaels Huber, Alexander, Claudia, Walter

Stephan Choe: Hartmut, Stefan, Wolf, Hartmut, Dirk, Frank

Thomas Hwag: Karin, Harald, Thomas Bree

Sarah Oh: Claudia

And we can no longer remember most of the Bible students from our mission work in 1988. But that's not a bad thing. Even though we can't remember, God doesn't forget, but continues to work. For example, Grace Sickelmann taught Sr. Irene the Bible in the 1990s. And after that we didn't hear from Irene for many years. But about two years ago she came to the Christmas service with her believing children.

It is certain that God brings fruit 30-fold, 60-fold or 100-fold through each of us.

There are two kinds of spiritual fruit that we can bring to God.

One kind is spiritual children. That means that we lead our children and other people to faith so that they become children of God.

Another kind is the change of our character, namely becoming like the character of Jesus. Galatians 5:22 calls the fruits of the Spirit "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

1 Corinthians 13:13 summarizes these fruits in faith, hope, and love.

We are to examine ourselves to see how our character has changed and borne good fruit since we believed in Jesus Christ. The older we are, the better changed we should be.

This Thanksgiving, we are to examine ourselves to see how our character has been changed by God's Word. And we are to resolve to bring God better changed character next year.

If we take God's Word seriously, we can bring God both external fruits and internal fruits of changed character. We can enjoy both fruits when we hear God's Word, believe it, and obey it. Therefore, it is very important that we hear God's Word well, believe it, and obey it practically. By doing so, we will bring many people happiness and we can give glory to God.