LUKE 8:4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown." When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Some of you may be familiar with this passage of scripture....it is called the parable of the sower. I felt like I knew what this parable was about....those who would receive the word of God for their salvation and those who would not...but, I believe it applies to all of us as Christians today. Our churches are full of these 4 kinds of people, and it is a good gauge of where your heart and soul is to compare yourself with these 4 types of people.
Jesus was asked to explain this parable......often even His own disciples didn’t have a clue as to what He was talking about! Remember, He told them several times that He would be killed and resurrected, and it came as a complete shock to them whenever it finally happened. Aren’t you glad that we have God’s written Word with us today so that things are absolutely clear to us...no guessing! The mystery has been revealed, Praise God!
Let’s look at Jesus’s answer whenever His disciples wanted an answer.LUKE 8:9His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
" ’though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ 11"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.14The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature15But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
Here are the 4 kinds of people Jesus was talking about...and the 4 kinds that we will talk about today. You need to figure out what category you fit in. First, Jesus said the seed is the word of God. It is absolutely essential that we understand that the Bible is our life instruction manual. We cannot figure out ANYTHING without this inspired Word that came straight from God Himself. So, we see that the seed is the Word.....and when you come to church, what the Pastor does is plant the seed....the Word within your heart.
I can’t tell you how important this is. This is why you MUST have a pastor or minister that preaches God’s Word...all of it...and if a preacher is using any other book than the Bible to base his sermons on, then you need to find a church where the Word is taught. I am not saying that it’s wrong to read other books...there are a lot of good, helpful books out there written by Christian authors. What I am saying is that the Bible is literally the inspired word of God and as we say here..."it don’t get no better than that!" The Purpose Driven Life may indeed be a very good book....(I haven’t read it, my wife has).... but it is NOT good enough for me to preach out of. And if I ever do, I would hope and pray that the deacons and elders of this church would call me on it! The Bible is taught here!
By the way, we also see why Jesus taught in parables here, don’t we? He tells us in vs 10 " ’though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’ This is one of the things that makes me realize that Jesus wasn’t just talking about unsaved people, but Christians as well. Paul said that the Word of God is foolishness to the non-believer...so that means that Jesus expected us believers to know and understand this parable. The first type of person ta ht the seed falls on is....The seeds on the path.
He knows there is a right way, even knows the path, but chooses not to take it. He is the one who hears, but chooses to reject the Word of God. In fact, our text even says that it is the Devil who comes and takes the Word from them. These are those that come to church, listen to the Word, and then go on living like they never heard it. Churches are full of these kinds of people! Sad to say, many can come and listen to a sermon and hear the Word and never be affected by it. They may even come on a regular basis! Remember what Peter said? Be ye doers of the word, not hearers only! And then Jesus goes on to say that those type of people won’t even be saved. Sad!
Then there are the seeds that fall on the rock. Jesus says that these are the kind of believer that have no root...vs 13Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. Do you know someone like that? Have you ever been like that? I know that I drifted away a few times. I had no root. I was eager to accept God, but I didn’t stay in church and the Word like I should have. I didn’t have any growth. Do you know where a plant starts growing first? The root! And that root must have nourishment to gain a solid foundation for the plant that is to come. They believe for a while, but since they are not firmly rooted, they blow away. We’ve seen it too many times, haven’t we? As soon as something comes up, something that God wants you to get through by trusting Him in order to transform you into what He has in store for you, people give up. They say "hey...I thought that by having God, I wouldn’t have any of these problems..I can do this good on my own." And so they go...on their own once again. whenever all God wanted was for them to trust in Him. See, we have to nurture that ugly old root so we can become that beautiful flower that comes up from it. Nourish your root!
The third type is the seed that fell among thorns WOW! What do you suppose Jesus meant by that? He says in vs 13 that these are people who hear, (and maybe even understand), but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. We have a lot going on in our lives today, don’t we. We even made up a word for our English language to talk about how busy we are these days....multi-tasking. That wasn’t even a word whenever I was growing up! So busy...too busy for God and His Word so that we cannot mature. Hey, now....these are Jesus’s own words! Don’t get mad at me for preaching the Bible and not some other book that may tell you that it’s OK if your too busy to spend time with God and His Word. You cannot and will not grow or mature in the Lord until you take the time to do it. And I will promise you this...if you will make time for God every day, He will increase your time (somehow, I don’t know how He does it, but He does) in the day so that you can get everything done that you need done. It’s the same principle as tithing....you can’t give God more time than He can give you. After all, He even stopped the Sun one time, didn’t He? Are you letting yourself be choked by any of these 3 things that Jesus mentions here?
Life’s worries....well, OK. Worry all you want, but in the end what can you do about the things you worry about? Pray? How about riches? The Bible says in MARK 8:36For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? We used to have a saying for people who worked all the time and never enjoyed life...."you’ll be the richest man in the graveyard". The only thing you will take out of this world is your soul...and it WILL go somewhere. Store up your treasures in Heaven, that’s where you’re gonna be for eternity....if you’ll quit neglecting your spiritual life for this worldly one. How about pleasures? Do you stay away from church in order to participate in worldly things? Party too hard Sat night, can’t get to church Sun morning? Football game for the kids keep you out of church? Maybe you just want to stay home and watch Desperate Housewives...God forbid! Don’t let these things keep you from maturing and growing in God. Nothing is more important!
Finally, the seed that falls on good soil. I like the way the Bible puts it...the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Don’t you want to be noble? I like that word! You hear the Word, and retain the Word. That’s how you do it. As an extra plus, our text says that by doing that, we will produce a good crop. When I get Heaven and stand in front of Jesus, I would like Him to say "Well done, my good and faithful servant (He can call me noble if He wants to)...Well done, you produced a good crop". Don’t you want to produce a good crop? The Bible also says that those vines that don’t produce will be cut off! Persevere.....be a fertile ground for the seed you are given!
