Introduction

I am fully aware that I have preached to you from the Parable of the Sower before but wanted to share the same today for a very good reason. As your Pastor, I am responsible for your personal spiritual growth. You know, sometimes we get complacent in our Christian walk which hinders our spiritual growth. When that happens I have to stir your nest and remind you to start moving forward again. So, I am going to stir your nest tonight. Now, as I told you the last time I preached from this passage, Jesus spoke about four different groups of people that are in the Church.

Read Mark 4:1-20

1. The Christ Rejecters

This parable indicates there are people who come to church for years but for reasons other than Christ. They hear the word but are not saved. They live the same way they were used to living before they started coming to church. So many of such people are going to burn in hell one day because they “almost” got saved. The King James Version says that King Agrippa said in response to Paul’s Gospel presentation “almost thou persuades me to be a Christian” (Acts 26:28). Almost is not good enough. Carefully notice the phrase, “As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.” Satan is working relentlessly to keep sinners from being saved.

2. The Carnal Minded

As the Sower went on sowing some seeds fell upon the rock and began to sprout but withered soon because they had no roots. These are the carnal-minded believers who will be offended by the word and will compromise with the world and stoop down to any worldly standard to stay on the toe with the world while keeping one foot in the church at the same time. They don’t believe in separation from the world.

3. The Selfish Believers

In the parable, some of the seeds the Sower scattered fell upon the ground and began to sprout only to be choked by weeds. They never grew to produce any fruit. These are the believers who are very selfish and self-centered and are so busy enjoying life that they never have time for serving God. They will go to church when it’s convenient, give some offering, and go for fellowship meetings, but they have wrong priorities in life.

These are the believers who are sitting on the premises of the church rather than standing on the promises of God. Most believers today belong to this category living in pleasure thinking about how they can spend their next paycheck while the world around them is going to hell. They are Materialistic and only interested in protecting their personal interests.

4. The True Believers

Then there’s the seed that fell upon the ground and grows healthy and produces fruit. How wonderful to have believers who bring a hundred to the Lord. What will this temporal life matter 100 years from now or 10,000 years from now? All that matters will be when we die whether we died in the Lord and that we spent our life living for the Lord.

Conclusion

You must understand that this is not a message of judgment. But tonight I want you to examine your own life in the light of what I told you because even a true believer can become a Christ denying, worldly or selfish unless he guards his soul closely. It’s only a matter of time.

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