The Thorny Ground Hearer, Part 1

Driving home: Though I preached on this parable in times past, it has driven me back to my Greek texts, back to an examination of every word in the parable, not only here in Mark, but also in the Psalms, but in the parallel accounts i…

Martin compares his task of preaching on the thorny ground to a surgeon performing delicate neurosurgery, emphasizing the need for precision to avoid both insufficient and excessive cutting, highlighting the gravity and danger of misapplying this truth.

Unfruitful. As we come to this portion of the word of God this morning, I confess that I feel, as a surgeon ought to feel, who is about to enter an operating room and perform delicate neurosurgery on the brain of one who has a tumor. And he knows if he does not cut deep enough and remove all of the tissue of the tumor, his patient will, ultimately be killed by that growth. But he also knows if he cuts just a fraction too deep, he'll kill his patient.

2:35 - 3:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section details the literal facts of the thorny ground: seed falling 'among, in the midst of, and upon the thorns.' Martin explains that these thorns, like 'farnbush,' grow…

He describes the common 'farnbush' weed in Palestine, which grows without cultivation and menaces good plants, explaining how farmers cut or burn them but roots or seeds often remain, illustrating how thorns are inherently present in the soil.

and message of that interpretation of our Lord first of all then the facts given in the parable itself we read in Mark 4 and verse 7 and other that is other seed fell among the thorns in the parallel passages in Luke and Matthew we read seed fell in the midst of the thorns Luke 8 7 and in Matthew 13 7 the seed fell upon the thorns bring them all together and what do you have you have our Lord saying other seed fell among the thorns in the midst of the thorns and upon the thorns now what our Lord was saying was something that would be very familiar to all of his listeners who sat on the seashor...

9:16 - 10:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not merely 'stomp on the stalks' of sinful patterns, but meticulously uproot them down to the last capillary, exposing them to the 'burning tropical sun' of God's truth to wither.

A missionary's story of a Borneo convert who meticulously uprooted a plant dedicated to his patron demon, ensuring all roots were exposed to the sun to wither, illustrates the thoroughness of true repentance in forsaking sin at its root.

and a missionary from Borneo was there and he told the story that I've never never forgotten it was so graphic in its underscoring of this principle he said that in the particular tribe in which he worked demon worship was rife and one of the things that people would do in their attachment to the demons would be that they would plant certain plants in honor of their own patron demon this particular man in the days when he was a demon worshiper and a child of the devil had planted a plant out in the middle of the dense thick lush jungle of that particular area of Borneo to his own patron demon ...

46:33 - 48:02 Read in full sermon