“And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching.”
I have been preparing for this series for quite some time now. We are going to spend a few weeks on the “Parable of the Sower.” As I was reading this parable one day in the office I read one sentence that especially made me pay attention. It was in verse 13: “And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” When I read that, this parable took on a whole new meaning for me. Jesus said that the Parable of the Sower is the key to understanding every other parable; it is the most important parable He taught. That means that this particular parable must be pretty important! It was then that I felt the Lord speak to me and tell me that I need to explain this to our church. Jesus almost always taught in parables. We need to understand the whole Word of God and apparently we need to start here in order to understand all the rest of Jesus’ teachings.
In this series, we are going to go back in time about 2,000 years and join the crowd that gathered by the sea to hear Jesus explain how everything works in the Kingdom of God. Jesus delivers His teaching and instruction, through a parable, which means a comparison.
Have you ever heard people say, “Everything happens for a reason?” It is true, everything does happen for a reason and that reason is found in this parable. We are going to discover over the next few weeks some very important truths:
➢ This parable explains what God does, how He does it and why.
➢ It explains what Satan does, how he does it and why.
➢ It explains what happens to you, what you should do, and why you should do it.
➢ The answer to every problem that affects mankind, including health problems, premature death, financial problems and relationship problems, is to be found in this one parable.
How many are interested now? If we really understand this parable, we can know how to get answers, how to receive breakthrough financially, physically and emotionally. So, we are going to take our time and work through it in its entirety. I encourage you to come out to as many Sunday night services as you can because we are going to continue on Sunday nights as well.
Let’s read the whole parable that we are talking about as we get started. I am going to try my best not to stop while reading it because this is what we will spend the next several weeks on.
Mark 4:3-20; “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air[a] came and devoured it. 5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” 9 And He said to them,[b] “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
The Purpose of Parables
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’”[c]
The Parable of the Sower Explained
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
I am sure that every person here has asked himself or God, “Why do things happen the way they do?” When Jesus was sitting in the ship and delivered the Parable of the Sower to the people gathered around on the shore, He was telling them a story that contained the keys to understanding this old, old question. When most of the crowd left that day, there were a few people that stayed around, including the disciples, they asked Him to explain what He just taught. Jesus didn’t just deliver the parable; He took time to give them the interpretation of it, which we have just read.
Let me give you a very basic description of this parable right at the beginning so you are not wondering what it is all about. Jesus begins by saying, “The sower sows the Word.” (Mark 14:14). This is the first thing that we must clearly understand in order to understand this parable. God’s ONLY tool is the Word of God. Everything He does, He does through the Word. The sower is God. He is scattering seed daily (because we need it on a daily basis), and Satan is trying to pick it up. This battle is going on every single day. Satan is very interested in keeping you away from the Word, and he comes to make sure it falls on the wayside, on stony ground or among thorns.
➢ The ground determines all the results of the sowing, and you are the ground!
We must understand these simple truths to understand this parable and all the other parables that Jesus teaches. Just to be sure we got it all:
➢ The seed is the Word. God’s ONLY tool is the Word of God. Everything He does, He does through the Word!
➢ The sower is God. He is scattering seed daily and Satan is trying to pick it up.
➢ The ground is you. The ground determines all the results of the sowing.
God is scattering seed, or also known as the spoken word, or rhema word, in several ways.
1. The written Word of God is seed. That one is the obvious one.
2. The Word can come to you not only by it being written down, but also through the foolishness of preaching and teaching.
I Corinthians 1:21, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”
That is why the closer we get to the return of Jesus; the more we need to assemble with other believers. As the rapture comes closer and closer, we need to hear the Word more and more.
Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
3. Another way God scatters seed is through the Holy Spirit speaking to your spirit.
John 16:13, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come”
So God spreads seed through the Word, He also spreads seed through the foolishness of preaching and lastly through the Holy Spirit. We have been spending several months on the subject of being led of the Spirit. God is concerned about every aspect of our lives. The question is not whether He is speaking or not, the question is, “What condition is our ground in?” Are we receptive to His Word when He speaks? Are we willing to listen and obey, whether that’s through the Bible, through preaching, or through the inward witness? Come back tonight as we dive deeper into this Word that the Lord has given me for this season.
