A Sower Went Forth To Sow part 1 - Mark 4:26-29

This morning we’re going to take a break from our study in Hebrews, and look at the topic of evangelism.

In a way, talking about evangelism is a lot like doing evangelism:

· There is no perfect place to start;

· There is no one text that lays it all out;

· There is no one method that has to be followed.

With that in mind, let’s look at Mark 4:26-29.

Mark 4:26–29 (NASB95):

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

This is a parable, a word picture that illustrates spiritual truth. There are four elements to this story: the Sower, the Seed, the Soil, and – sorry, couldn’t think of an “s” word – the Harvest. This morning we’ll talk about the Sower and the Seed, and next week we’ll cover the Soil and the Harvest.

The Sower = The Christian

The Sower is the Christian who proclaims the Gospel. Don’t stumble over the word proclaim; we can say evangelize, or share the Gospel, or witness. The important thing is that the Gospel is truly presented; we’ll get to that in a few minutes.

The foremost evangelist of the New Testament was clearly Paul, who took the Gospel into Asia Minor and Europe. In Romans 10 he gives us the basic progression of evangelism, only in reverse order:

Romans 10:12–15 NASB95

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

You must call on the name of the Lord to be saved, but you won’t call if you don’t believe, and you can’t believe what you have not heard, and you will not hear if someone doesn’t tell you, and that someone has to be sent.

Let’s switch the order around. Evangelism means that someone is sent by the Lord to proclaim the Gospel, so that the sinner will hear it, believe it, and act on it by calling on the name of the Lord for salvation.

That’s why we have this quotation from Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

Are you sent to proclaim the Gospel? If you are a Christian, yes, you are. It’s a standing order for every member of Christ’s body. Every member of the military is expected to know and follow the Eleven General Orders, which are the same for Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. The church also has standing orders, one of which is to be an ambassador for Christ – there’s another title for evangelism – in this world.

Are you sent? Yes, you are.

The Seed = The Gospel

The sower plants the seed, and the evangelist proclaims the Gospel. That’s it; that’s all; nothing else. It is the only message that we bring to the world. The Gospel is the means by which we are reconciled to God; everything else flows from it. The Gospel is not all there is to say, but it’s the first thing we must say, and the required doorway into a relationship with the Triune God.

So, we must clearly understand the Gospel in order to clearly share it with others.

The Gospel is a three-part message.

The Gospel:

1. Who is Jesus Christ?

2. What did Jesus do?

3. How do we benefit from what Jesus did?

The answers to these questions are not religious or traditional; they are not the result of human invention, or academic pursuits, or of market research to find out what people want.

The answer to these questions are declared by Scripture. In fact, they are so frequently found that they are impossible to miss.

The Gospel: Who Is Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Living Word, God Himself in human flesh. Colossians 1 says this:

Colossians 1:15–18 NASB95

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.

Of course, there are many, many passages of Scripture that tell us about Jesus, but only a few bring in so much detail.

The Gospel doesn’t begin with us; it begins with Jesus. It is for His glory. He is the preeminent one, God in human flesh.

The Gospel wasn’t given so that we could be happy or go to heaven. It was given to glorify the Son of God, and so that we would know Him. God the Son is the focus of God the Father, and the Father requires that the Son be our focus as well.

The Gospel: What Did Jesus Do?

Do you remember that campaign with the wrist bands that said WWJD, which stood for What Would Jesus Do? It sounded very spiritual, but it actually changed the conversation for many. Jesus was presented as a model for moral behavior – what would Jesus do? – instead of the historic Savior of the world.

The question is not What Would Jesus Do, but rather, What Did Jesus Do?

This is what Paul says in First Corinthians 15,

1 Corinthians 15:1–4 NASB95

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

We can’t talk about what Jesus did without talking about WHY He did it. Jesus died on the cross, as most people know. He died as a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. We were born on death row, guilty by our nature, and as soon as we could, we proved we were guilty by our own behavior.

But Jesus Christ took our place on the cross, or in the electric chair, to modernize the method. He was strapped down, innocent though He was, and the switch was thrown. He did this to save us from our sins, for the sake of love. Because of His love, we who have trusted in Him have received mercy – we were not punished as we deserve – and grace – we were given blessings we do not deserve.

And Jesus was raised from the dead. He is no dead hero, some legendary historical figure. He is real, and He is still very much alive, building His church, interceding for us, and reigning over all things.

We are sinners, as Romans 3:23 makes clear: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

There is only one Savior, as First Timothy 2:5 makes clear: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

The Gospel: How Do We Benefit?

The Bible says this:

Ephesians 2:4–9 NASB95

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Salvation is of grace; that means that it is a gift. For some reason this is a really hard concept for most people. If someone walked up to them and said, “I know that you can’t afford a two-week cruise in the Mediterranean, so I paid for you and your family to go,” the overwhelming majority would be blown away. Once they were sure that it wasn’t a rip-off, most people would gladly accept.

But walk up to someone and say, “I know that you are dead in your sins and utterly helpless, but Jesus Christ will give you eternal life if you will trust Him,” and people get mad or insulted or indignant. Linda and I have seen some videos of evangelists preaching the Gospel on college campuses. They receive all sorts of profanity and verbal abuse and insults from the very people who are insulted at the suggestion that they are sinners.

But the truth remains. We are born sinners, dead in our sins, helpful, unable to do a single thing to help ourselves.

This is why salvation is by grace and through faith. We are unable to do anything to help ourselves. And remember, even faith is only possible if God gives it to us as a gift.

For some, believing in Jesus Christ sounds far too difficult. “He lived so long ago, and died in such a strange way, and did such incredible things. How on earth can I be expected to believe all of that?” On our own, we can’t believe it. If you believe this, and have called upon the Lord Jesus to save you, it’s because saving faith was given to you.

And for others, believing in Jesus sounds far too simple. “I have to atone for my sins. I have to pay some price. I have to do something. I have to make it right.” Saving faith means accepting your utter inability to help yourself, and completely surrendering to the promise of Jesus Christ to save you. That’s impossible for sinners to do on their own.

This is why saving faith is a gift from God. He must give us the faith to believe the Gospel in the first place, and to believe that I must call upon Jesus’ name, and that when I do call upon His name, He will save me.

This is why many Christians say that true Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. Anyone can get a handle on religion, after all. A religion is simply a system developed by people, and so other people can – given enough time and effort – practice that religion just like they would drive a car or play a musical instrument.

But having a living relationship with the Creator – a personal, conscious, intimate connection with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit – is only possible because the Father, Son, and Spirit have done their work in us to give us new life, take away our sins, and join us to Himself.

Bringing it Home

Even though we’re only part-way through the passage, there’s already application that we can make to our lives.

almond tree picture

Let’s start by talking about almond trees. Almond trees depend entirely on honeybees for pollination. California produces 80% of the world’s almonds each year, and so bee farmers – apiculturists – across America rent hives of bees to almond growers there. Two and a half million colonies of bees are needed to pollinate the almond crop.

person speaking picture

There is only one delivery mechanism for the Gospel, and that is Christians. Yes, there are evangelistic crusades and radio programs, but the overwhelming majority of conversions happen through personal interaction. For the most part, they don’t happen quickly. Years ago I heard that, on average, it takes 10 conversations about Christ for conversion to take place.

Some are uniquely called to evangelistic ministry, and focus most of their attention on it. I know a brother who lives in an apartment building in Nashville; there are more than 20 languages spoken in that building. He sees new people all the time, and is gently aggressive when sharing Christ.

But most of us – like most of those in the life of the church – live in a place where we don’t see new people very often. Relationships are far more long-term, and the process of evangelism reflects that reality.

farming picture

There is a reason, after all, why Jesus chose farming as a parable for evangelism. It takes time. It takes patient dedication. It takes consistency.

If evangelism were only possible for a very few, the command to proclaim the Gospel would not have been given to every Christian. Every single one of us can be involved in sharing the Gospel with others. The Lord provides the opportunity. He gives us the message. The Holy Spirit does the work.

Two last things.

First, we must know the Gospel, inside and out. Who is Jesus Christ? What did He do? How do we benefit? These are simple questions, with straightforward answers, and a number biblical passages provide the answers. But, we must take the time to know them, so that when the Lord provides the opportunity, we are ready.

And, our work as evangelists must be saturated with prayer. What we long for is that person to realize their lost state, repent of their sin, trust in the Lord Jesus, and be converted. We long for the Lord to intervene in that person’s life for His glory and their good. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, none of those things will happen.