Title A Hundredfold Fruit/Mark 4:10-20
Contents
a hundred fold
When I asked a person who runs a not-so-large hole-in-the-wall shop if he could make a million won in one year by investing 10,000 won, he shook his head and asked if he had any such secrets. It may take ten years, and in some cases, it is said that it is impossible to do business at all.
Of course, there will be exceptions. As real estate prices rise, house prices or land prices may suddenly jump several times, and there are cases where businesses are lucky enough to make money. However, multiples of 100 times are difficult. is.
However, in verse 20, the Lord says that 30, 60, and 100 folds are possible. And it is possible when seeds are sown in good soil.
This story is not intended to be a lecture on business or farming methods. It is a parable given to the disciples to explain the expansion of the kingdom of God.
I pray that everyone who hears these words today will bear fruit a hundredfold and receive blessings spiritually, in business, and in business.
We can find some lessons in the text.
1. There was only one seed sown in the ground.
In verse 14, the Lord interpreted the seed as “the Word”. That is, it means the gospel. Comparing the Word to a seed, the seed not only has life, but also has the dynamics of life and sprouting when sown on the ground. because there is
Hebrews 4:12 says, "The word of God lives" and 1 Peter 1:23 says, "The living and abiding word of God."
The reason Christianity has life is because it is a religion that believes in the living God and because it is a religion of the living and working Word.
The fact that the Word is alive means that the Word works in various ways.
We repent after hearing the word of God. We are moved and moved. And we decide to live a new life.
A dead seed does nothing. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is a living seed, so it works all kinds of miracles and powers.
The seeds that the farmer sowed out of the field were one, not many.
2. There were four fields.
Roadside, rocky field, thorny field, and field described as good land actually refer to people's hearts. Seeds such as barley and beans are sown in the ground, but the seeds of the gospel are sown in the furrows of a person's heart.
The Lord described four kinds of fields in verse 15 and below.
He said that it is a place frequented by people walking along the road, and the seed that fell there means that the devil has taken away the word.
He has a hard and distracted mind like the side of the road. Even if he sits in church, his head is filled with arrogant thoughts. Even if he listens to a sermon, the content passes through his ears but does not penetrate into his heart.
Since the soil is thin in a stone garden, the shoots will wither as soon as the sun shines.
These people receive the Word with joy, but because their roots are weak, they fall even when the slightest wind blows, and when tribulation or persecution occurs, they quickly fall. These people form relationships with Jesus easily or break them off easily. I even quit.
The thorns are not bearing fruit because of the cares of the world and the deceitfulness and greed of wealth.
Let me explain in more detail.
The seeds that fell on the roadside were eaten by the birds without even having time to sprout. And according to verse 15, the bird is called Satan.
The roadside is noisy and distracting. However, the problem is that even on a noisy roadside, if you are immune, you will not be aware of the noise.
This was when I first joined the Chungshin Church 13 years ago. Since it was difficult to make a living at the church at that time, I moved to a 15-pyeong briquette zip-line apartment by the river.
The place I used to live in was a place where I slept and woke up to the sound of birds in a large garden with trees.
We couldn't put all of our moving stuff in, so we scattered them here and there the first night we moved in. But the problem was that I couldn't sleep because of the sound of cars running all night and the vibrations. So I couldn't sleep at night or during the hot summer. Couldn't open it.
The surprising thing, though, was that after a year and two years, the sound was still loud, but not unbearable. In other words, it was adaptable.
In the case of the religious life, when negative adaptability develops and immunity to sin increases, the soul is hopeless.
When I realize that my heart is as hard as a roadside, and it is a distraction and a dark back road where Satan walks, I must quickly tear it down or change it to another path.
If you take the wrong way, your destination will be different.
The seed that fell on the rocky ground sprouted, but soon withered away. Verse 16 says, “I received it immediately with joy,” and verse 17 says, “I endured it for a while, but when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, it immediately falls. Come on," he interpreted.
It should be noted that it is “the one who immediately receives with joy, and immediately falls.”
We need to reflect on whether we do not have these elements.
I am reminded of a letter from a college student to C.B.S's "Refresh" faith counseling.
I am a female college student who has accepted the Lord for 8 months. I have a twin brother. My mother went to the temple to pay tribute and gave birth to a son, so my daughter is against believing in Jesus. If I continue to go to church, I will cut off her hair. .Or the persecution was so severe that it was difficult to endure.
However, because she cannot forsake the Lord, she is fully prepared, and this is a letter to ask for strength to overcome this persecution.
There was also a story written about whether it would be a sin to abandon the parents even though they were prepared to leave the house.
I have summarized the answer as follows.
First, pray. And ask for help from many people such as 50, 100, 200, etc., and make many intercessory prayers for the victory of that hardship.
Second, give thanks for the persecution.
Third, do not leave the house and endure persecution at home (it is not that I will leave the house or that I will abandon my parents, but that my parents will abandon me, which is morally responsible for the parents)
Fourth, do not forsake Jesus even if you have to die (because your relationship with people is finite, but your relationship with the Lord is eternal).
Fifth, be sure of the victory of faith and the salvation of your family and persevere.
I saw in the girl's letter a rock-like faith and fertile soil for the soul.
Compared to those who collapsed even if it was a little difficult and who tried to give up the church life and leave the Lord even if it was even a little difficult, her heart was fertile.
Compared to those who turn their backs on the church and leave the Lord to enjoy life and justify their sins, the slender girl's faith was the faith of the books.
Thin faith and shallow faith do not sprout. All big trees have deep roots.
It is necessary to deeply appreciate the lyrics of the gospel hymn, "Never will I change, I will never change, I will never change like a green tree planted by the water.
The next seed that fell among the thorns did not grow any more because the thorns blocked its energy.
Verse 19 says that the thorns are the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires of other things.
In 1 Timothy 6:9-10, it is said that a snare, lust, love of money, etc. are like thorns that pierce oneself in the end.
People like a field of thorns are people who leave the Lord and neglect their religious life because they have to earn money, enjoy life, because they are busy with work and have a lot of things to worry about. is to stab yourself.
Would it be better to be pierced by those thorns to death or covered in wounds, or to be healed in the arms of Jesus?
There may be thorns that are difficult to shake off by my own strength. Let's come to the Lord and shake off the thorns and become thornless Christians.
The best field the Lord spoke of is "good land."
Verse 20 says, “The good land is those who hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop of thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
The land that is heard and received is the good soil. The roadside, the rocky field, and the thorny field have heard the word. However, they received the word and did not bear fruit.
The Christian law of fruition has a hundred, ten thousand, and ten thousand times the potential, but only when we hear and receive.
How can I become a fertile soil that yields a hundredfold?
First, we must humbly listen to and receive the Word.
Don't try to put my opinions and opinions ahead of you, but listen to God's word and receive it, but receive it with humility.
Paul said in Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."
If I cover my ears just because I don't want to hear it, or ignore me because I don't like it, I become a farmer without a harvest and a trader without profit.
Second, we must obey His Word.
Let's say a farmer has been working on farming all winter. But if he doesn't plow and sow in the spring, he doesn't reap any fruit.
If you have heard and received the Word, you must obey and put it into practice.
We have been farming faith for the year of 1989. Now is the time to harvest. The question is whether it is 30, 60 or 100.
Let's take a look at whether this year was not a life of faith that forgot even the basic assets of faith that I originally had.
Let's look at the parable in Luke 13:6-9. After planting a fig tree, he fertilized it for three years and made it nurture it with great care, but it did not bear fruit. He said that he should throw it away and plant another fruit tree.
Then comes the story of the orchard keeper's reply, "Lord, let it be this year as well, I will dig it up and fertilize it.
We are a tree and a field that should bear fruit. What kind of fruit should we give to the Lord, "This is it"?
If the Lord, the owner of the orchard, comes again today and asks for fruit, is there any fruit that can be provided or not?
Every time I look at the heavy drooping branches of an apple tree, Every time I look at an autumn field with golden waves, Every time I see a date tree covered with red dates, I can't help but feel ashamed because I don't have any fruit to offer to the Lord. And Because it did not bear 100 fold fruit.
Lord, grind my heart to fertile soil.
May the fruit of 100-fold pour out from me as well.
May there be a fruitful offering before the Lord here today.
Lord, forgive me for my poor farming and fruitfulness.