"The Sower and the Seed"
Notes
Transcript
“A Heart Issue”
Today we are going to begin a new series on the Parables. We are going to look specifically at Matthew chapter 13 at the Parable of the Sower. I hope that you would turn with me there as I read not only the parable, but also the meaning of this parable.
1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
10 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
“ ‘ “You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and turn, and I would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
Before we jump all the way into what this parable is all about I want to take a moment today to help us understand several questions about parables. What exactly is a parable? What is the meaning of a parable, and why did Jesus teach this way.
So, let me begin here today by helping us know what an extraordinary speaker and teacher Jesus was. How do we know that Jesus was a great communicator? In the Gospel of John we see this statement made about Jesus.
46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”
The religious leaders knew Jesus had not had a lot of training and learning, but clearly Jesus was an amazing teacher. We see from the beginning of Luke chapter 7 that his teaching was not his, because it came from his Father. Everything Christ said had a specific point and carried meaning including the use of speaking in parables. Jesus did not come up with this idea of parables because we know that before his earthly ministry we know that the religious leaders of the time were speaking in parables to explain and illustrate the Mosaic law.
We also see a very famous parable in the Old Testament when Nathan the prophet confronts King David of his adultery with Bathsheba. (2 Samuel 12:1-15) Nathan tells the story of a rich man who had many sheep and yet he takes a sheep from a poor man. David gets angry at this and declares that this man deserves to die. David didn’t understand the story until Nathan explains to him that, “You are the man.”
So, what exactly is a parable? The world parable comes from two Greek words. (Para) is a prefix that refers to something that is alongside of something else. Like a paralegal works alongside of a lawyer. And the other part of this word is (ballo) which means to throw or hurl. So parable means something that is thrown alongside of something else. Teachers would do this to illustrate a truth that they were teaching, just like some Pastors today when they use illustrations to help members understand the truth of the text or to illustrate a point. To say this as simply as I can, a parable is an illustrative figure of speech made for comparison’s sake, and specifically for the purpose of teaching a spiritual lesson.
By why exactly did Jesus speak in Parables? Jesus did this in such a way as to reveal and conceal. We see this in verses 10-12 of chapter 13. To the disciples who were followers of Jesus their ears and hearts were opened to the truth, and they could understand this message. However, to others Jesus was talking about, they had the ability to hear and understand and even embrace the truth, but, there is a big difference between hearing and obeying what you hear. That is why Jesus says in verse 9, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Many people had the ability to hear what Christ said but it never pierced or changed their hearts and lives and so the meaning of the parables to them was concealed and did not make sense.
Now, I need to quickly explain a few things here as we jump into this parable. What is the sower and what is the seed here?
The seed here represents the Word of God. And, even more specifically the gospel message. The good news is the seed here. Also, the sower here is not identified. There are some who think that this is speaking about Christ based on verse 37 of this same chapter which talks about He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. But this is a different parable and the imagery is not the same. The sower is anyone who is distributing the seed. Anyone who proclaims God’s Word or shares God’s Word is sowing seed. The point of this parable has everything to do with the soil. That is what I want you to see today. The soil is the picture of the human heart. So, I want to address the 4 different types of hearts. Again this is a “Heart Issue.”
1. Watch Out for a Shallow Heart!
1. Watch Out for a Shallow Heart!
3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.
When we look at this first type of soil we see that the sower comes out to sow some seed and we know that some of the seed as he threw it out did not get into the soil because it fell along the path or wayside. This would mean that there would have been some footpaths along side of the fields where people walked. The soil there was not plowed and of course had to deal with the very arid and dry climates of that region. The seed would fall onto the hard-baked earth. Because of this there was no way the seed had any chance to take root. The birds of the air would come and eat the seed and then it was gone.
So, what in the world does this mean? We see the answer in verse 19. This shallow soil that is on this foot path represents a shallow heart. This type of person responds immediately to God’s Word, but it is only superficially. Many people hear God’s Word and are even joyful about it, but there is no root and eventually in difficult times they fall away. Again without deep roots good vegetation cannot live long in a dry climate and eventually dies out. This is not a question of if but when this type of faith will die out. We know that every true believer will go through times of temptation, a crisis , or even some difficulty. When we think about these things it can be easy to fall away from God. For those who are not believers, but make a claim to be, they will abandon the faith all together. So, how do we know if we are truly believers?
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
If someone has this shallow heart and a shallow conviction with no real fruit, that person will eventually fall away. They were never truly saved to begin with.
2. Watch out for a Concrete Heart!
2. Watch out for a Concrete Heart!
5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.
The rocky ground here would not be referring to a rock and it does not mean rocky soil. Why, because we know that the farmer would have plowed his field and gotten rid of the rocks in his field. What Jesus is referring here to, is a rock bed underneath the soil or surface that was covered on top by the good soil. This rock would have not been visible to the farmer. So, the seed as it is being thrown onto the soil would not have a deep enough level to sustain it especially in a dry climate and very little rain. The seed may take root for a short time and even look good, but eventually the roots cannot get past the rock layer. After the sun comes out, it dies out quickly just as it came up.
So again, what does this mean? We see the answer in verses 20-21. This dry and hardened soil is a picture of a heart that is incapable of being penetrated by Biblical Truth. We see this today in many peoples lives because of unbelief and a love for sin peoples hearts become hardened. Here is how Jesus says it in the same parable but from the gospel of Luke.
12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
But, how does Satan take away the Word of God from someones heart? There are many ways Satan does this. First of all, he uses deceit. John 8:44, tells us that Satan is a liar. He even transforms himself as an angel of light and looks good. Secondly, Satan confuses people through false teaching making them think they are saved or a believer. False teachers will say sin is not that bad or even sinful and people continue to live in their sin not convicted of it. 1 John 3:6
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
They don’t realize they are not saved and are still unbelievers.
Satan knows that people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Satan will do everything he can to divert people from the truth of God’s Word, effectively taking it from their minds and hearts. Watch out for this type of heart!
3. Watch out for a Worldly Heart.
3. Watch out for a Worldly Heart.
7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.
Jesus now begins to help us see this third type of soil. This soil is really messed up because it is infested with weeds, which is like my back yard. This type of vegetation that Jesus is talking about here has thorns and thistles and is just not good. The thorns and thistles and weeds are harmful for any kind of crop because they take over the garden or field where the good seed is planted and it eventually chokes out the good seed. The weeds and thorns also have a way of sucking up the moisture and nutrients from the good crops and in the end they choke out everything that is beneficial . So, what is the explanation here? We see the answer in verse 22.
This type of weedy soil represents a heart that is all consumed by this world and by worldly matters. The world and its riches choke the word of God out, and it proves to be unfruitful. This type of person is not a hard hearted unbeliever or even a shallow, emotional person. This soil has been plowed well but, there are a ton of impurities in the soil. This person is so in love with the world, the sinful pleasures of life, the pride of life that they miss the truth of God’s Word. Here is how James sums it up for us.
4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
James tells us plainly that this type of heart means that you are God’s enemy. The whole point of agriculture it to bring in a harvest and bear fruit. So, this is an evidence of someone who is not a believer.
In fact, all three of these different fruitless soils are references and are symbolic of unbelievers, including those who originally showed some promise but never brought forth any fruit. Now I already know what some of you are thinking. This is really tough. How can anyone be saved? Am I saved? What about my friend or family member who says they are a Christian but has just walked away from the Lord? Or who has made a bad choice? Please hear me today. I am not saying that you have to be perfect to be a Christian. What I am saying is that there needs to be at some point progression. Steve Lawson says, “Christians are not sin-less but, will sin less.” You are moving forward in your faith as a believer and there is some evidence of fruit in your life. Maybe you have wondered away from the Lord or have made a bad decision, but because the Holy Spirit resides in you, there is a conviction of sin. You then ask the Lord and others to forgive you, and you run back to the Lord and follow Him. The progress is in your love for God, and we see this by reading His Word and obeying His words and in our love for one another. Ok, I want you to look at this last Heart. This is the Heart we must pray for.
4. Seek the Lord for a Fruitful Heart.
4. Seek the Lord for a Fruitful Heart.
8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
The last soil here that Jesus explains to us is fertile soil. The seeds that take root in good fertile soil can flourish and grow because there is no rock bed underneath. The seeds have been put into the ground where birds cannot get to them and there are no weeds or thorns to choke them out. The soil is well prepared and the seed that lands here will flourish and grow into a big crop, so much so, that it could produce a harvest of 30, 60 or even a hundredfold. So, what does this mean? Look at verse 23 with me.
Jesus says this type of soil pictures a person who hears the word and understands it. Believers accept God’s Word and bear fruit. As believers we continue to persevere or follow the Lord all the way to the end. The mark of authentic faith in endurance.
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
The fruit here that we see in this parable includes the fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians.
As you look at your life today is there evidence of these type of fruit? The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Conclusion: What’s the main point in all of this Matt? Let me ask you this simple question. What is the condition of your heart today? Is it softened to things of God? Do you have a desire, passion, and love to follow Christ and obey Him? Or do you find that your heart is far from God? You may be here today dealing with a hard heart. Your heart and life have no root in the Lord. There is not depth, there is no life and you know that you are not Christian. Maybe your heart has been sidetracked by the world and everything the world has offered you. Maybe there has been tremendous trials and difficulties in your life and because of that are you angry and mad at God?
My plea for you today is that you would submit to Christ and trust Him as your Savior. Turn from your sin and turn to Christ.
If you are here today and know Christ pray for those who do not. As believers we must see a need to continue to share the seed of God’s Word with our neighbors and friends and co-workers. Let’s continue to share with others the good news of Jesus and pray that as we are doing so the seed will take root.
Please hear me today. It’s all about the condition of the soil. Again how is your heart? Here was King David’s prayer.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
May this be our prayer as well.
(Pray and Lead into Communion)