Sowing in the New Year

The Sower, The Seed, The Soils, The Fruit

Bible Passages: Matthew 13:1–9; Matthew 13:18–23; Mark 4:1–20; Luke 8:4–15

Who is the Sower?

Matthew 13:3 “Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow.”

Simply said the sower in this parable is a man who goes into his field with the intention of raising a crop with the expectation of a harvest. He is looking to making a profit from the crop he is sowing. - Such is the case with the Lord God. He sent His Son into the world to die. He sends His Spirit into the world to convict lost people of their sins (John 16:8) so that He might reap a spiritual harvest. - Even though the plan of God to save the lost is all for His glory, we can still praise God for the fact that He devised such a perfect plan to save those who believe! If you are saved, you should praise His name that He sent His Son Jesus to die for you; that He rose from the dead; that in spite of your sinful condition (Ro 5:8), He loved you and extended grace to you and saved your soul, (Eph. 2:8–9). He finished the work so we can have assurance.

Now, the main thrust of this parable revolves around the types of soil and what is produced by each (the parable of the four soils). But, in this message, I want to focus in on the sower. I want to look at this person who takes his seed, goes into his field and begins to sow.

The Sower’s Mission for the Seed

The sower has one desire as he enters his field: to get his seed into the soil. He wants to plant his crop so that he can reap a harvest at the proper season.

I would just remind us today that God did not give us the Gospel just to save us. He did not give us the Gospel so that we could horde it up, keep it to ourselves and shout about the blessing we have. He did not give us the seed so that we might allow it to rot in the barn, (Haggai 2:19).

God’s mandate to His people is that we take the seed of the Gospel into the field of the world and sow it for His glory. We are commanded to share the Gospel: Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:19–20; Acts 1:8.

Is there a burden on your heart to get the Gospel into the field of the world? If there is, then honor it and go. If there isn’t, then get before the Lord and pray until He places such a burden on your heart!

The Sower’s Method of Sowing

As you read these verses, you see the sower casting his seed into the field. As he does, he casts the seed everywhere. He goes outside the lines. He broadcasts it far and wide. He wants to make sure that every square inch of his field has been blanketed by the seed. He wants a big harvest, so he casts the seed everywhere!

Such should be the method of our sowing as well. The commands of our Lord’s commission are clear.

We are to “Go”! Where are we to go? “Into all the world”,

Mark 16:15 “15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” .

No place is off limits. No people group is off limits. We are to go everywhere and tell everybody! (Note: The emphasis of “Go” in both Mark 16:15 and Matt. 28:19 is “as you go”. Our going and our telling is to be a lifestyle! We are to be living epistles, proclaiming the Gospel message as we go through life, 2 Cor. 3:1–3.) (Note: This implies that we need to live the right kind of life before the world, Phil. 1:27!)

b. We are to “Tell”! Mark 16:15 says “Preach”.

Matthew 28:19 “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Mt 28:19 says “Teach / Make Disciples”. What are we to tell a lost world? Are we to brag and boast about our church? Our preacher? Our choir? No! We are to tell a lost and dying world about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for sinners. We are to go into this world and we are to share the Gospel! What is our message? We are to tell them what Jesus did for sinners, 1 Cor. 15:3–4. We are to tell them what Jesus has done for us,

Ill. Paul 1 Timothy 1:12–15 “12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, 13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” . I don’t know what Jesus did for you, but I will never forget what He did for me! I was there when it happened!

This thing is not just about lifestyle. It is not just about how you live. To tell something, you have to use the facility of speech. You have to open your mouth and speak! The word “preach” means “to be a herald, to publish, to proclaim.”

c. We are to tell everybody—Mark 16:15, “Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.”

We ought to make sure that everyone in every circle of our lives hears the Gospel from our lips. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they do for a living, where they live, what color their skin is, etc. if they are a living, breathing human being, then they need to hear the Gospel and it is our duty to tell them! Some folks never witness because they are always waiting on the Spirit to “Move them”, or to tell them to tell somebody about Jesus. Friend, He already has! When He said “Go!”, He was talking to you! You will never find yourself on the wrong side of God by telling some lost soul about Jesus! Remember, sheep produce more sheep!

3. I think that the level of the harvest we receive will correspond directly to the amount of seed we sow in the field. Do you want you church to grow? Then sow! Do you want to see people saved and filling these seats? Then sow! Do you want to be involved in your Father’s kingdom work? Then sow the Gospel seed everywhere in all kinds of soil and He will give the increase,

1 Corinthians 3:6–8 “6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.” .

The Sower’s Measure of Success

As we read this parable, it becomes apparent that this sower lost some of his seed. Some of it fell on soil that had been unprepared and that seed produced no fruit. Since that is true, was the sower a failure? No, he was successful in his work, because he fulfilled his mandate. His mission was to sow the seed, and that is what he did! He had no control over the soil and he had no control over the amount of fruit each plant produced. He was successful because of two truths.

He sowed all his seed. To the bottom of the bag

He sowed all his field. To the very edges and beyond

As a sower of Gospel seed, you and I are not responsible for the kind of soil our seed falls into. We cannot even judge the condition of the soil, because we cannot see into the heart of it, 1 Sam. 16:7. Three of the four soils in this parable looked good on the surface. Notice: The Hard Soil—v. 4, 19—The “wayside” refers to the narrow footpaths that ran beside and through the fields. These were the roads of the day and the soil on them had become as hard as concrete from the feet of the travelers that had walked upon them. When the seed fell on the footpath, it could not penetrate the soil and it remained there in the open, only to be devoured by the fowls of the air. We are told that this speaks of the person who hears the Gospel, but who doesn’t “understand it”. That is, they cannot make the connection between the claims of the Gospel and their own life. Maybe they are steeped in sin and refuse to believe. Maybe they are calloused and cold toward the things of God and refuse to hear. Maybe they have hardened their hearts for years against the call of the Gospel and like a path trampled underfoot for centuries, they have become hard hearted! Whatever their need, they are hard hearted and the seed of the Gospel cannot penetrate the soil of their heart. When this happens, the devil and his minions will snatch away to Gospel seed by diverting the mind and helping the person become even more hardened against God. This person has a heart that is not prepared for a work of grace leading to salvation. Some are not willing Matthew 23:37 “37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Acts 7:51 “51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.” Luke 14:18–20 “18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20 Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’”

Some people are sowers

Some people are waterers

Some people are “soul winners”

He is the “Lord of the harvest”

Matthew 9:38 “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.””

There will never be a harvest unless the seed is actually sown into the ground? The farmer can have the most fertile soil, the best of seeds and the best intentions, but if he never actually gets out into the field and sows the seed, no crop will ever be produced! Friends, we can sit here in this fine building and we can preach the Gospel, we can gather and pray for sinners, we can have the precious Word of God in our hands and in our hearts, but until we actually go into the world and tell lost, dying sinners about Jesus Christ, we will never see a harvest. Oh, we might see one here and there saved by grace in the church, but we will never see multitudes come to Jesus until we go where they are, and we tell them about Him. May God help us to see the harvest through His eyes this evening, John 4:35–38 “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”” Whether we sow or whether we get to reap, does it matter? All that matters is fulfilling the great commission and telling a lost world about a loving Lord.