A Seed Must Grow

Series on Luke

III The Initiation

D The Activities of His Ministry Revealing that the Kingdom Is:

6 Farming, The Sower

Text: Luke 8: 4-15

Introduction

The parable of the sower is part of a series of interconnected parables in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 13, which explain the progress of the Kingdom of God in this world leading up to the final judgment. It is also found in Mark 4. In the parable of the sower Jesus pauses to make a sharp distinction between those who hear the Word and those who do not. He thus places the entire parable in the context of God’s absolutely sovereign mercy and judgment. The words God spoke to Isaiah in verses 9 and 10 describe the certain result of Isaiah’s sowing of the word, His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He 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.’ The inevitable outcome for Isaiah was unbelief. Jesus teaches that both the sowing of the seed and the nature of soil are part of the plan of God. Even more shocking is the inference that God’s sovereign government is mysteriously interacting with our choices to accomplish his purpose. In the parallel passage in Matthew 13:11-13 Jesus uses the word “give” twice and the word “take” once, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables. Who is giving and taking if it is not God? Not only is there an absolute division between men, but nobody ever stands still. You are getting progressively worse, or better. Either the heaviness of judgment is increasing your condemnation daily, or the weight of glory is leading you day by day to eternal life. Hosea 8:7 says, Those who sow the wind, will reap the whirlwind. The law is that you reap more than you have sowed. Our attitude towards God’s Word always brings more than we expect because God is involved. Either greater disaster than we anticipated, or greater blessing than we counted on. This ought to make us tremble. It is not intended to paralyze us. Peter tells us to give diligence to make our calling and election sure. James tells us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. Paul tells us to examine ourselves whether we are in the faith, The truth is that God’s sovereign purpose is being fulfilled in your choices, but these really are our choices. We must ask, “What effect is the word of God having on me?” Jesus gives us four possibilities and only the fourth is acceptable, but some of us have experienced more than one of these categories in the course of our lives. As we look at this parable let us see the possible consequences of the preaching of the word in our lives. The word ought to produce conviction, courage, and commitment in order to produce a crop of Righteousness.

I Conviction

When you sit under the preaching of the Word of God, which is the seed, the goal is not to be entertained, or to get an emotional high, or to get a Christian merit badge for you ability to endure boring discourse. The goal is understanding. So we read in verses 4-8, While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: “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. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still 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.” Understanding is an important concept in Jesus’ parable, for “hearing” means more than auditory perception; it means understanding. Notice the first group he describes in verses 11 and 12, This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those 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. These are the people who have no interest in the word. Paul describes them in Ephesians 2:1 and 2, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air. We would say atmosphere. The birds are symbols of the devil’s domain. The seed is snatched away. The Word is forgotten. Such people are blinded and do not see the importance of the message of God’s word and thus they ignore it. But remember Paul is writing to Christians. He is saying you were once dead, and deaf and blind. There are people in churches, perhaps even in this church in that condition today. By contrast the last group described in verse 15, the fruitful group, understands, But 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 Jesus uses the word retain or hold on to, but in Matthew it is the word understand. The meaning is the same. The Greek word for understanding means to see clearly, to comprehend, to completely understand. It describes the man who knows what’s going on. Is this you? In Romans 3:11 Paul describes the lost world and he uses this same word. He says, There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. This should alert you to the fact that if you do not have understanding, you can ask for it. You can seek God. He may be moving in your heart to accomplish his purpose, but you must seek him. The characteristic of those who do not understand is that they do not seek. Seek real understanding today because the kingdom of God is characterized by and advanced by understanding God’s wisdom. This is having ears to hear.

II Courage

Besides conviction the Word of God must produce courage. Courage comes from recognizing that there is a task at hand, the battle is hard, the march is long, the race is difficult and a supreme effort is required. People who win the sweepstakes are hilariously happy. However many of them end up with nothing after a few years because they do not realize the hard work of managing their new-found resources has just begun. Look at verse 13, Those 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. These are people who are overjoyed at the good news of salvation, full and free, but like spoiled children they never perceive their responsibility. If you watch the news reports of natural disasters where the victims are interviewed you usually see two kinds of people. Either they are ready to commence rebuilding or they are lamenting their misfortune. The spoiled child lacks courage because his attention is focused exclusively on his comfort and happiness. Consider God’s words to Joshua, Moses successor in Joshua 1:6-9, Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” These words are just as applicable to Christians today. Unlike those who remain and produce fruit, trouble and persecution makes these folks fade. I wish you would ask the question, “What effect does the Word of God have in my life?” The kingdom of God is not advanced without sacrifice and suffering. It is the nature of the kingdom that it requires conviction and courage.

III Contentment

The third and final result of the Word not being fruitful in our lives is related to a focus on the kingdom of God. Unless it has the first priority in our lives we will go backwards. Look at verse 14, The 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 mature. We are not fruitful when the deceitfulness of riches and the cares of this life choke the Word. John MacArthur points out that almost half of Jesus 38 parables deal with money and while the New Testament has 500 verses on the subject of prayer and faith it has over 2000 that deal with the issue of money and possessions. These warnings are not given because we are a bunch of greedy misers. The issues are worry and deception. There is a trap in our sinful hearts waiting to be sprung by greed. Chains of gold are stronger than chains of iron. Shakespeare had it right when he called it “saint seducing gold.” Someone has slyly suggested that a person with six children is better satisfied than a person with $6 million because the man with $6 million wants more. The reality is that there simply is not room in our hearts for both the Word of God and worry and we are apt to lose our focus on the kingdom. This is how easily we are deceived. There’s a true story that comes from the sinking of the Titanic. A frightened woman found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be lowered into the raging North Atlantic. She suddenly thought of something she needed, so she asked permission to return to her stateroom before they cast off. She was granted three minutes or they would have to leave without her. She ran across the deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She raced through the gambling room with all the money that had rolled to one side, ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and quickly pushed aside her diamond rings and expensive bracelets and necklaces as she reached to the shelf above her bed and grabbed three small oranges. She quickly found her way back to the lifeboat and got in. Now that seems incredible because thirty minutes earlier she would not haven chosen a truck full of oranges over even the smallest diamond. But death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds. I guess it is just too easy for us to be more concerned about today or tomorrow than it is to be concerned about our heavenly home. If the Word of God does not produce in us a kind of contentment that enables us to put the work of God first, then it is ineffectual. If you really want to know if the rule of God has come into your life then these are the criteria. Does the word produce understanding? Are you growing in your comprehension and faith? Does it produce courage which results in changes in your life, and does it produce the kind of contentment that releases you to serve God? Only then will it bring forth fruit. This Jesus says is the nature of the kingdom and of sowing the seed of the Gospel.