The greeting. Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Every day that God’s gifts us with life is another day to learn of Him, which in turn increases our love of Him.
The parable. Today’s parable is well known. We will examine the Parable of the Sower. This parable is recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Let’s read the Luke account. And I am sure, as we go along, that we will bring in additional details from the other two accounts.
Luke chapter eight, I will begin to read from verse one for a bit of context, though the passage under consideration will be from verse four to verse fifteen. Verse one, hear God’s perfect word – read.
Luke 8:1. Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
Luke 8:4. When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:
Luke 8:5. The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 “Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 “Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. 8 “Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Luke 8:9. His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant.
Luke 8:10. And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND. 11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.
12 “Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. 13 “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 “But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
The prayer. Let’s pray and ask for God’s blessing upon our study of His word – pray.
The doctrine. This parable is fairly representative of that big-picture idea that is normative in parabolic teaching. The main idea or ideas are straight forward. The preaching of the word of God is rejected by some and received by others.
Word rejected. And the evidence that the word of God has been inwardly rejected, rejected intellectually and emotionally, is that there is no spiritual fruit in their lives.
And notice there is no fruit. Not some fruit. No fruit. Without saving faith joining us to a living Christ there will be no spiritual fruits. The field, the person, is spiritually dead unproductive ground.
Word received. The opposite is also true, the way Jesus distinguishes the person that has true faith in Him, that truly believes His words from the heart, is that person produces the fruits of the Spirit, some 30 fold, some 60 fold, some 100 fold.
The outline. 1. The Sower – the identity. A) Fundamental. B) Instrumental. The Seed – the content. A) Law. B) Gospel. The Sowing – the activity. The Soils – the recipients. A) Responsibility. B) Examination. C) Declaration.
The fundamental gospel sower. Let’s look at the sower of the seeds.
The Son of Man. In another kingdom-parable, the one about the wheat and the tares, Jesus describes Himself as the One that sowed good seed is the Son of Man. (Mt.13:37)
According to Christ’s divinity He is the eternal Son of God. (Jn.1:1)
According to His humanity He is the incarnate Son of Man. (Jn.1:14)
This is Christ’s favorite title for Himself, He uses it approximately eighty times in the gospel accounts. (32 times in Matthew; 14 times in Mark; 26 times in Luke; and 10 times in a bit of a different way in John)
An interesting note, we do not read that any other people refer to Jesus as the Son of Man, just Jesus Himself.
The Savior of Sinners. By calling Himself Son of Man Jesus is emphasizing His work as Savior-Redeemer. (I Tim.2:1-5)
The idea here in our passage is Christ is busy preaching the kingdom of God. (Mk.1:15, Mt.12:28)
The instrumental gospel sower. But then also He will send out His workers to sow the gospel seed among sinners. If we refer to Jesus as the fundamental gospel Sower, we can call His gospel servants the instrumental gospel sowers.
But we should recognize that in Matthew 13:37 Jesus identifies Himself with His servants.
In other words when they preached Christ, Christ said the preacher is the Son of Man. The idea is they are preaching His gospel in His name. And He is saying if they hear you, then they hear Me. (Lk.10:16, Lk.9:48, I Jn.4:6, Jn.15:20, Jn.8:47, Ezek.3:7-11)
The ordained gospel sower. The primary sowers in view are first Christ’s apostles as His extra-ordinary ministers, and then after the apostles die, then Christ’s ordinary preacher-teacher-ministers. (Mt.28:18-20, Acts 1:8)
Of primary importance for pastoral ministry is the preaching the word of God, especially the gospel word.
Here Jesus likens the work of the minister of the Gospel to a farmer.
This in itself is very instructive. It is much like elsewhere Jesus likens the work of the minister to that of a shepherd, guiding and caring for sheep.
And the particular aspect of the minister in view as we said is preaching and teaching, speaking the Gospel.
There are other aspects of the minister’s calling such as public and private prayer, leading in worship, pastoral counseling and visitation, among other things.
I am not saying that this one sower here is exclusively the minister. I think it is most ordinarily and primarily the gospel minister, preacher, teacher, evangelist. (Eph.4:11-12)
The non-ordained gospel sower. However, by way of application the sower of the gospel seed is done by any Christian that presents the gospel to others. (Acts 8:4, see also WLC 158, 159)
Christ as fundamental revealer/explainer of the Word. This is a parable in which Jesus Christ Himself gives the interpretation.
If I remember correctly, He only does this in one other parable; the parable of the sowing tares among the wheat, where the evil one sows bad seeds, tares, among the wheat, unbelievers among the believers – in the visible church. (Mt.13:24-30 and 36-46)
A very basic lesson we learn by this is that there is a correct interpretation to Christ’s figurative teachings.
And I mean only one correct meaning to a passage. But there may be many proper applications to a text, but still a particular Scripture has only one meaning.
This is how our confession puts it.
WCF 1.9. The infallible rule of interpretation of Scripture is the Scripture itself: and therefore, when there is a question about the true and full sense of any Scripture (which is not manifold, but one) , it must be searched and known by other places that speak more clearly.(2 Pt.1:20-21, Acts 15:15-16)
This is against the Roman Catholic view of the four-senses of Scripture. Rome sees two broad senses of Scripture, literal and spiritual. The spiritual sense they subdivide.
“The Literal Sense – Understanding the text’s straightforward meaning. The Allegorical Sense – Finding symbolic or metaphorical meanings in the text. The Moral Sense – Applying the text’s teachings to our own lives. The Anagogical Sense – Exploring the text’s spiritual and heavenly significance. (see Catholic Answers website, www.catholic.com)”
This is important for us because sometimes people approach the Bible as if it means whatever we think it means. And that it may mean one thing for me and a radically different thing for you.
How this is seen most often is like this, Sally what do you “think” the passage means? Bill what do “you” think it means?
Beloved this is shared ignorance. There is objective true truth in religious spiritual things. That is found in rightly dividing the word of God, the Holy Bible. (2 Tim.2:15)
The Seed – The Word. Now let’s consider the seed.
The word of God. Here in Luke seven verse eleven Jesus tells us that the seed is the Word of God. (2 Tim.3:14-17)
The word of the kingdom. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus calls the word of God the word of the kingdom. (Mt.13:19)
King Christ has come to establish His spiritual kingdom; He frees His people from the devil and restores them to God. This is what Pontius Pilate did not understand. (Jn.18:33-37, Jn.6:15, Acts 1:6, Lk.17:21, Heb.121:27-28)
The word. In Mark’s account Jesus simply calls it the word. (Mk.4:14)
Peter calls the word of God the incorruptible seed. (I Pt.1:23)
James calls the word of God the word of truth.
James 1:18. In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.
Positively. The word that Jesus speaks of is the Bible in general.
For our purposes we can divide the Bible into two main subjects; law and gospel.
The moral law acts as a tutor to lead one to faith in Christ as revealed in the gospel of Christ so that we may be justified by faith. (Gal.3:24, Rom.6:23)
Negatively. And Christ teaches also by inference, negatively what ministers are NOT to preach.
That is to say anything that is NOT the word of the Kingdom, other than the Bible, other than the law and the gospel.
This would include things like preaching the traditions of men or preaching social or political theories. (2 Tim.2:4)
If you do so you may persuade people to your social thought, but they will never be converted and reconciled to God.
Because it is only the Gospel that saves people from their sins. (Col.1:5-6, Rom.1:16)
The summary. Let me emphasize the seed sown is the word of God.
Christ is teaching with words.
I know that sounds a little silly. But Christ is not teaching by doing.
There are a few occasions where God taught His people by having His prophet’s ‘act out’ a prophecy.
Isaiah had to walk around naked for three years as a lesson that the people of God were about to be stripped bare and taken away into Gentile captivity. (Isa.20:1-6)
Ezekiel had to lay on his left side and then his right side and then to eat certain kind of bread as a non-verbal prophecy against God’s people. But even in this, we need the word of God to understand it. (Ezek.4:1-17)
So again, Christ is teaching by speaking.
As an aside, beware of all non-word based forms of Christianity.
And beware of all non-divine-word forms of Christianity. Meaning non-Bible based and thus tradition-ceremony forms of Christianity.
They are contrary to Scripture. They will not teach you the Christ of Scripture or the salvation by Christ alone of Scripture. They will teach you that in some way you merit your own entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
They are contrary to the practice of Christ, and of the prophets and the apostles.
Non-word forms of Christianity are heavy on sights and smells and ceremonies.
Non-word forms of Christianity promote mysticism.
Non-divine word forms of Christianity promote legalism. (self-salvation)
These things have the appearance of religious wisdom. They appeal to the flesh. They are powerless against sin. Powerless to save. Beloved, stay in the word. (Col.2:13-23, Rom.10:17, Jn.17:17, I Pt.1:23, Jas.1:18, I Tim.4:16)
The Sowing – the activity. Then Jesus speaks of sowing the word, the activity of teaching or preaching the word of God, now in our epoch with the completed canon of Scripture. (Heb.1:1-3)
The means. Christ here shows that God uses means to convert sinners, to save sinners.
Romans 10:14. How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things!” 16 However, they did not all heed the glad tidings; for Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.
The gospel sower has to be active in season and out of season. (2 Tim.4:2) Study, prepare, pray, preach – blood, sweat, and tears. (I Cor.9:23-27)
First, He must sow the seed. He has to work, to do the work of an evangelist.
Paul tells pastor Timothy,
1 Timothy 4:13. Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. (Isa.32:20)
The method. See that Jesus talks about a sowing method.
In one way it is an indiscriminate sowing. Casting the seed of God’s word, Christ’s gospel everywhere, to all people. We do not know which soil is good or bad. We do not know the elect from the reprobate. That is not our concern. Our concern is to give the gospel of Christ to all. (Mt.24:14, Col.1:23)
The efficacy. And then resting in the good purposes of God to save all His people by it. This gets us to the efficacy idea. (WCF 10.1-3, Titus 1:1)
Regarding the preacher’s work of preaching the gospel, his preaching in and of itself does not save anyone.
One man plants the gospel. Another man waters the gospel. But God alone causes the growth. (I Cor.3:5-9)
The Holy Spirit is the One that gives faith to believe in Christ as He is presented to us in the gospel. (Jn.6:63, WLC 155)
The Soils – general lessons. Let me mention a few general lessons we learn from the different soils.
The hearers. There are four soils, meaning four types of hearers of God’s word.
Three of the four soils are unproductive of holy fruits. This means that these are spiritually dead hearers. They are not spiritually reborn.
They have no spiritual life in them because they are not joined to God in Christ spiritually.
They may be joined to the church by profession and or baptism. But they do not have ears to hear and eyes to see, no spiritual life, no saving faith in the Christ who saves.
The majority. Certainly, I do not think we can say, well then 3/4 of all people that hear the word of God are unbelievers.
It is not a right use of parables to conclude that 75% of either the church or the world are lost unconverted unbelievers. And that 25% of all people that hear the word of God will in fact be saved in Christ. We cannot be that precise.
However, in keeping with our principle of looking for the general ideas, it is legitimate to say that Christ is teaching that more people will reject the word of God than receive the word of God.
Christ is teaching there will be fewer saved people than unsaved people. Those that reject the word of God inwardly will be in the majority. True Believers will be in the minority. (Mt.7:13-14, Mt.7:21-23, Lk.18:8)
To use the words of the apostle Paul applied to Israel, I will apply this to the visible church, though the numbers of the visible church be like the sand at the seashore, only the remnant will be saved. Only the remnant will produce fruits of the Holy Spirit – having the Holy Spirit. (Rom.9:27)
The minority. For our great encouragement – some WILL believe the word of God to their salvation and sanctification. (Eph.2:1-10)
You see God’s means of advancing His kingdom by His word appears to be weakness and foolishness. It doesn’t look like it should work or does work. But God’s word DOES accomplish everything that God determines for It. (Eph.1:11)
Isaiah 55:11. So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
The Soils – particular lessons. Now let’s consider the particular lessons we have by the different classes of hearers of the Bible.
The command of God. Let’s see how Christ proceeds, for this let me quote Mark’s gospel.
Mark 4:3. Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow;
In Greek, Jesus opens up with one word, a-koo-ah-tay. (Ακούετε, verb imperative present active 2nd person plural). You all, must, right now, listen to Me!
Jesus does not say this in a mean-spirited way. But rather He is about to tell them something vitally important for them.
Remember Jesus is not teaching to benefit Jesus. Jesus is teaching to benefit them. If I could use this language, these people are not doing Jesus a favor by listening to Him. Jesus is doing them a favor.
We would benefit from the preaching of the word of God more to the extent that we saw it as God’s gift to us and an expression of divine love upon us in revealing His will for our salvation and as an immense spiritual privilege.
And to listen accordingly.
In part, this kind of listening is what will distinguish the different kinds of soils or different hearers and their hearts.
The responsibility of man. To benefit from the teaching of Jesus it requires listening with faith. Listen to how our larger catechism puts this.
WLC 160. What is required of those that hear the word preached?
It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence,(1) preparation,(2) and prayer;(3) examine what they hear by the scriptures;(4) receive the truth with faith,(5) love,(6) meekness,(7) and readiness of mind,(8) as the word of God;(9) meditate,(10) and confer of it;(11) hide it in their hearts,(12) and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.(13)
(1) Prov. 8:34 (2) 1 Pet. 2:1,2; Luke 8:18 (3) Ps. 119:18; Eph. 6:18,19 (4) Acts 17:11
(5) Heb. 4:2 (6) 2 Thess. 2:10 (7) James 1:21 (8) Acts 17:11 (9) 1 Thess. 2:13
(10) Luke 9:44; Heb. 2:1 (11) Luke 24:14; Deut. 6:6,7 (12) Prov. 2:1; Ps. 119:11
(13) Luke 8:15; James 1:25
Jesus summarizes what He means when He says you must “listen” in Mark 4:9.
Mark 4:9. And He was saying, “He who has (spiritual) ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mt.13:16, 43, I Cor.2:12-16)
The nature of man – the hearts. So, we have one sower sowing the one gospel seed and now we come to the four different kinds of soil.
The soil is the heart. And when Christ says the heart, I include also the mind.
Saving faith is intellectual assent and emotional-affection trust.
I know we often make the distinction between the mind and the heart, but I confess, this doesn’t make much sense to me.
Christ speaks of understanding the Gospel in Matthew 13:18.
We understand things with our mind, with our reason. (Rom.12:1-3, Dt.32:4, 2 Tim.3:14-17)
That is why, beloved, it is so vitally important what you think about, what you allow to enter into your mind. (Col.3:1-3, Phil.4:7-8, 2 Cor.10:5)
Listen to how Westminster summarizes saving faith. (WCF 14.1-3)
WLC 72. What is justifying faith?
Justifying faith is a saving grace,(1) wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit(2) and word of God,(3) whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition,(4) not only assents to the truth of the promise of the gospel,(5) but receives and rests upon Christ and his righteousness, therein held forth, for pardon of sin,(6) and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation.(7)
(1) Heb. 10:39 (2) 2 Cor. 4:13; Eph. 1:17-19 (3) Rom. 10:14,17 (4) Acts 2:37; Acts 16:30; John 16:8,9; Rom. 5:6; Eph. 2:1; Acts 4:12 (5) Eph. 1:13 (6) John 1:12; Acts 16:31; Acts 10:43 (7) Phil. 3:9; Acts 15:11
The roadside hearer – the Satan robbed heart. The first person is likened to hard-packed ground along the roadside
Luke 8:12. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.
Matthew 13:19. 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 the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
Mark 4:15. These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.
We would say this hearer has a heart as hard as a rock. The seed of Christ Crucified for sinners makes no impression at all. (I Cor.2:2, Jn.3:16)
They do not accept that they are sinners and that they need Christ Jesus to save them.
They reject the law, they do not see that they are sinners before a holy God.
They reject that Christ alone is their own atonement for their sins.
These divine truths make no sense, they do not understand them. (Rom.3:1-18, Rom.8:7, Eph.2:1-3)
Let’s at look at the reasons that Jesus gives for rejection of His word.
Jesus says the devil goes to church and prevents people from receiving the gospel word.
Luke 8:12. Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.
Mark 4:15. Immediately Satan takes the word away from them.
The Bible says the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (I Jn.5:19)
The bible says that the prince of the power of the air now works in the sons and daughters of disobedience. (Eph.2:1-2)
2 Corinthians 4:3. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
You see beloved, the kingdom work we are involved in is a spiritual work and in that spiritual work there is real spiritual warfare. (Eph.6:10-18)
The devil and demons are actively involved in keeping people from believing in the word of God.
Immediately these evil spirits ‘snatch’ the word of God away from the person. How does the devil do this?
He quickly diverts the mind or the attention away from God’s word. He quickly directs their attention to something, anything else.
He uses other people to do this.
I have seen it many times. One person will quickly divert another person’s attention away from the preached word, no, no, no don’t you listen to this mean word, this hard word, no, no. Look at my smart phone instead. The baby screams and won’t stop, the phone rings, and on and on. This is the devil’s work.
Here is another one. I have seen this as well. As soon as the word of God is read or preached, the devil lulls the person asleep. Oh, I understand people work long hours. I have been there myself. I understand people take medication and it makes them sleepy. Ditto. But it is no mystery that these things do not affect other things, only under the word. That is the devil.
And the word makes no impression on them. And left unchanged they will die in their sins because of it.
The rocky place hearer – the affliction avoidance heart. Christ then speaks about the second kind of hearer-soil-heart.
Luke 8:13. Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.
Matthew 13:20. The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
Mark 4:16. In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. (fall away is to apostatize)
The next person listens to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and immediately, without any contemplation, without any counting the cost, immediately (quickly) he or she says, yes to Jesus with great joy. Yes, I want to be forgiven. Yes, I believe in Jesus.
Oh, they now love the sermons, love the Bible, love church, love, love it. Yes, what a Savior Jesus is. Amen! Glory! For all the world, this looks and sounds like a converted Christian.
But then our Lord teaches us that this person has no firm root in themselves, they have no real faith. They have no soil of Spirit-wrought faith.
They got caught up in the moment. Their reception of the gospel was pure emotionalism.
But then something happens. Time happens. And with time, afflictions come, and persecutions come.
And then their “faith” in Jesus goes away. They were only temporary Christians.
They did not lose their salvation. They never had true faith in Christ.
And hard things prove the truth of our faith in Christ.
When painful things happen to this type of professing Believer then they no longer pray, no longer read the Bible, no longer go to church.
They no longer want Jesus if Jesus brings hard things to their life or won’t take hard things away.
By this they show that they did not want Sin-Savior-Christ.
They want a form of Christ to make them happy with this world and with their sin.
And when their form of Christ did not prevent affliction – they walk away. (Jn.6:60)
To say nothing about persecution for Christ’s sake.
Everyone that follows Christ and desires to live godly in this life will be persecuted, you will suffer, you will be hated. Will, not might. (Jn.15:18-27, Acts 14:22, Phil.1:29)
Jesus says this,
Matthew 10: 21. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. 23 “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next.
These hearers are man-fearers and not God fearers. Hardships prove this. (Prov.29:25)
Beloved, the stories here are countless. (I Jn.2:19)
These people also will die in their sins. The word of God had no saving place in their heart.
The thorny place hearer- the worldly heart – the worry-distracted and pleasure-distracted hearer. The third hearer is the most frightening I believe.
No Satanic deception, not directly at least. No threatened martyrdom for Jesus. Something far more subtle. And thus far more dangerous. And I would say far more common.
Luke 8:14. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
Matthew 13:22. this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Mark 4:18. And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
In this person’s heart there is simply no room for Jesus, they are too filled with the world.
The word of God has no place in a person’s heart because of the worries of the world. Marriage, family, kids, school, jobs, and on and on.
And along with that, the deceitfulness of riches. Oh God is nice. But nice things are nicer. Other things, other people, other places. Sorry God. No worship for You God I have other things to do.
Mostly lawful things that are considered in an unlawful way.
They are absorbed with the creature. They have no place in their heart for the Creator-Savior.
The world is their first love. (Mt.6:24) In this person’s heart there is simply no room for Jesus, again I say, they are too filled with the world. (Lk.12:15-23, Lk.14:16-26, Lk.17:26-29)
The good soil hearer – the regenerated heart. Let’s end on a happy note.
At the end here Jesus will show us the True Believer, the one who is born again.
Luke 8:15. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
Matthew 13:23. And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
Mark 4:20. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
God has His people. God’s word will go out, His Spirit will go out, and some will come to new life in Christ. (Isa.55:11, Ezek.37:1-10, Jn.6:37-40)
They will believe the law and the gospel They will believe in Jesus Christ savingly. They will love Him.
They will stay with Him in the face of suffering, in the face of persecutions. Life cannot take them from Christ. Riches and people cannot take them from Christ.
They belong to Jesus and Jesus belongs to them.
And they grow in His righteous image.
And the Holy Spirit works holy fruit in their lives. (Mt.7:16-27)
Galatians 5:22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
And the evidence of being a True Believer is fruit. Obedience to God in Christ, expressed in love to God and in love to man. (Jas.1:22, Mt.22:35-45, Jn.15:12-17, I Jn.3:18)
Listen to God’s word.
Luke 8:15. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.
These people truly have their hearts changed.
Ezekiel 36:24. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
True Faith, saving faith in Christ produces good works. (Jas.2:14-26, WCF 16.1-7)
Beloved though some true Christians are more productive in holiness than others and though some true Christians bear less fruits than others, still Jesus says all are good soil. All are blessed in Him.
Some day the glorified Christ will say this to all true Believers,
Matthew 25:34. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
He who has ears to hear, let him hear. (Mt.11:15, 13:9, Rev.2:7, 2:11)
Amen
Study Questions.
- In your own words, what are the main truths in this parable?
- Who is the sower? Describe his nature. Is there more than one sower? Are you a sower? Explain. (Mt.13:37, Jn.1:1, Jn.1:14, I Tim.2:1-5, Mt.28:18-20, Acts 8:4, WLC 158-159)
- Who in this passage explains what the parable means? What lessons are we taught by this? Lk.8:9, Mt.13:24-30, 36-46, 2 Pt.1:20-21, see WCF 1.9)
- What is the seed? What are some characteristics of the seed? What is the purpose of the seed? What is “not” the seed that sometimes is given in place of the seed in the modern church? (Lk.8:11, Mt.13:19, Mk.4:14, I Pt.1:23, James 1:18, Jn.17:17, Rom.10:1-17, 2 Tim.3:14-17)
- What do non-word forms of Christianity produce? What do non-divine word forms of Christianity produce? Why do some professing Christians like these forms of Christianity? What should be our rule for religious truth and moral practice? (Mark 7:1-14, Col.2:17-23, Rom.10:17, Jn.17:17, I Pt.1:23, Jas.1:18, I Tim.4:16, Gen.3:1-8)
- What is the sowing? Describe the sowing. (Rom.10:1-17, 2 Tim.4:1-5, I Tim.4:13-16, Isa.8:20, I Cor.2:2, I Cor.1:16-17, Mk.16:15, I Cor.9:16-23)
- Does the sower discriminate where he sows? Why? Why not? Scripture proofs. Does the sower make the sowing effectual? Why. Why not. Scripture proofs. (Mt.28:18-20, I Cor.3:5-9, Jn.6:63, WLC 155, Eph.2:1-9, WCF 10.1-3)
- Do the majority or the minority of people that receive the seed sown believe? What are some lessons we learn from this? (Lk.8:10-15, Mt.7:13-14, Mt.13:16-17, Rom.9:6-27, Acts 13:48, Acts 16:14, WCF 3.3-5)
- What is the soil? What are the two types of soil? (Lk.8:10-15, 2 Cor.6:14-18, Mt.7:13-14)
- Who is the roadside hearer? How do they receive the seed? What happens to them? What spiritual realities does this teach us? (Lk.8:12, Mt.13:19, Mk.4:15, Eph.6:10-18, 2 Cor.4:3, Eph.2:1-2, I Jn.5:19)
- Who is the rocky place hearer? How do they receive the seed? What happens to them? What lessons are we taught by these hearers? (Lk.8:13, Mt.13:20-21, Mk.4:16-17, Mt.10:21-23)
- Who is the thorny place hearer? How do they receive the seed? What happens to them? What makes this type of hearer especially frightening? (Lk.18:14, Mt.13:22, Mk.4:18-19, I Tim.6:9-11, Lk.12:15-23, Lk.14:16-26, Lk.17:26-29)
- Who is the good soil hearer? How do they receive the seed? What happens to them? What lessons are we taught by these hearers? How do we know if we are good soil hearers? (Lk.8:15, Mt.13:33, Mk.4:20, Gal.5:22-25, James 2:14-26, Ezek.36:24-27, Jn.15:12-17, I Jn.3:18)
- What will Christ say to all good soil hearers? When will He say it? What lessons do we learn from this? (Mt.25:34-39, Mt.25:14-30, Lk.19:11-27, Mt.6:33, WCF 33.1-3)
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