Parable of the sower 2 of 2

9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

There are four types of hearts that are described for us here in this passage       in other words - there are four ways that we react to the gospel when it is

   “sown” in our lives (or presented to us in some manner) . . . 

Now what I want to do in this lesson – is to look at how “The Lord’s   Church” reacts to the gospel . . . and how do we as preachers react when God uses The Word to speak to our heart – 

When God uses this same word to speak to rest of the congregation -- how do we react as God's messenger? . . . Often times preachers have a bad habit of using God’s Word to preach to others – without ever letting that word “be presented” to THEMSELVES.

Ideally - the preacher studies God’s Word – The Word convicts the heart of the preacher – the preacher then “shares that conviction” with the rest of the congregation so that they might be able to benefit like he did . . . 

A preacher in any church is not better, he is not smarter nor is he closer to God than any other member of the congregation is . . . but he has a heart that is in one of these four basic conditions – just like everyone that he is preaching to does.

The wayside hearer represents those of us in the congregation who have already made our minds up . . . it doesn't matter what message God lays upon the heart of the preacher . . . OR if the heart of the preacher is not 

right with God - if his heart is hard, then in his own self-importance - he is going to preach what-ever he wants to preach - or what-ever he thinks will please or entertain to gain the largest congregation and ensure him a good salary. 

Acts 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

The wayside hearer represents the type of congregation that is dull of hearing – To be waxed gross is to become thick or to be callused over.

This is no different than the pathway that has become hardened by all the traffic – so that the seeds are not able to penetrate that top layer and send roots into the soil beneath . . . when our heart becomes callused – the gospel is just not able to “get through” . . . our mind is made up

and we simply will  not listen . . . to be dull of hearing means that we have become “deaf” so that we no longer hear the word . . . This is a description of those who have shut their eyes so that they cannot see the truth . . . it 

describes those who have closed their heart so that they will not consider the message of the gospel . . . The result of this type of attitude – is that it will prevent “The Word” from being able to convert and to heal . . . 

To be converted actually refers to being brought back – like we would think about returning to God from a backslidden condition.

To be backslidden refers to how we as God’s children often times forget about our commitment to God . . . to become backslidden is not necessarily to get involved in all sorts of sin so that we become evil and fight against 

God – but we become backslidden when we get sidetracked – or distracted with life . . . this is what it means to be chocked with thorns or the cares of life.  This happens to us not when we choose evil over good, but when we become too busy with life to properly serve our God.

God speaks to the church at Ephesus whose only transgression – was that she had “Laid aside” her love for Jesus . . . she had become so busy with the practice of religion – that she had forgotten to practice Christianity.

Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

In Acts 28 the message had been delivered to a people whose heart had waxed gross – the path back to proper fellowship with God had been exposed . . . but no-one listened to the message– no-one opened their eyes 

to the message – the entire congregation closed their hearts and would not even consider that they had drifted away from God and that they were in need of repentance – they would not let God heal their lives and draw them 

back to a close relationship with Him . . . the first step toward such a condition is made – when a church “lays aside” her love for Jesus like the Ephesians did.

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

God wants to convert us and to heal us – this simply means that God desires to “draw us back” which He cannot do if we remain as a people whose  heart is waxed gross, and whose ears are dull of hearing, and whose eyes 

have been closed . . lest we should see with our eyes, and hear with our ears, and understand with our heart, and should be converted, as the Lord heals our lives and our worship and our church.

Is the condition of our heart hard like the rocky ground hearer - so that we intend to do good but just never get around to it?

Are we best described by the wayside hearer - who actually starts out on the right track but when we encounter resistance of some sort - we just give up.

Then there is the thorny ground hearer - he never does anything really bad - he just gradually gets too busy to love Jesus anymore . . . he still goes through the motions - but his heart has returned to the world.

The good ground hearer - is the type of person who is all too rare to find.  This person is what God wants him to be . . . he is not perfect - but he is committed to the truth and his life is a reflection of the love that he has for God . . . while it does not reflect the love that he has for self.

Parable of the sower 1 of 2

           Matt 13: 1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.

     2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

     3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow . . . 

  In this passage - Jesus is comparing a farmer that is planting seeds of corn - to a preacher who is planting seeds of the gospel

4 And when he (the farmer) sowed, some (of the) seeds (he planted) fell by the way side, and the  fowls came and devoured them up:

When a farmer plants seeds in his field – there are always a few of the seeds that get dropped – and when we drop a seed - they fall into places (like a path or a walkway) where they will never really get a chance to sprout.   

A seed lying out on top of the sidewalk will be seen by a hungry bird – and it will be eaten just like a bowl of our favorite candy would be eaten by us

    . . . the birds would eat the spilt seeds long before they could sprout and grow into a new plant . . . well this also happens in our churches when the preacher “sows seeds of the gospel”   

In this instance – the preacher is the farmer – the seeds that he sows among the congregation represent the gospel – the wayside (or the ground) where the seeds fall represent the human heart that hears the gospel – 

while the fowls that devour the seeds represent the devil as Satan works in our life to take the seeds of The Truth out of our heart before they are able to change us  and make us into what God wants us to be . . .

You see – the condition of the soil (and the presence of pests) will determine whether or not the seeds will ever sprout – and if they do sprout – the type of soul also determines the health of the plant which results . . .

In life – the condition of our heart – and the degree of access that we allow Satan to have in our lives – will determine just how effective the gospel will be in terms of guiding our lives.

This parable of the sower   describes the four basic types of the human heart in respect to how we react to The Gospel message . . .

When we hear the truth – we are either glad or we are sad . . . we believe that it applies to others – or we understand that it applies to us . . . we either apply it to our lives or we ignore it.

The wayside hearer represents the heart that does “nothing at all” with the gospel when he hears it . . . Satan takes it away before it can have any effect – just like a bird eating seeds that have been spilt along the roadway {take the seeds away} before they have a chance to sprout.

5 Some (of the seeds that the farmer planted) fell upon stony places (the preachers message fell on the ears of a hard hearted person) where they had not much earth (where there was not much compassion – where there was 

not much humility – where there was not much forgiveness toward others – where there was only time for self and a lack of time for others) and forthwith (very quickly) they sprung up, because they had no deepness of 

earth (the seeds the farmer planted here sprouted quickly) and the message of the preacher is often quickly understood by the congregation - but it is also just as quickly forgotten . . .

James 1: 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

To deceive our own selves is to be delusional – this means to see things that are not really there.  

To hear the word – but not to apply the word that we hear     teaches us that we see righteousness in our lives that is not really there – we are delusional – we have made a mistake.

23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass (a mirror)

24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

He looks into the mirror – he sees that he has a need that should be taken care of . . . but when church is over – he forgets all about it . . .

Matt 13: 6 And when the sun was up, they (the newly sprouted seeds – the young plants) were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

The preachers’ message did have an impact – but it was short lived . . . the gospel was clearly understood because it did sprout - it was acknowledged as being a need the persons’ life – but as soon as The Book was closed and 

the preacher finished delivering his message – the message was forgotten . . . because there was no root – because there was no foundation – because there was no footing - it just didn’t last.

7 And some (of the seeds that the farmer planted) fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up (alongside of the corn) and choked them (and

the preachers’ sermon was heard – and it was accepted in a busy self-centered life . . . the gospel sprouted – the gospel message did take

root in this life . . . but there was just too much interference for the plant to grow properly – there was too much competition and the gospel message fell out of favor – as it was gradually  replaced by another . . . 

8 But (the) other (seeds that the farmer planted – they) fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Sometimes God’s message falls upon a heart that actually treasures what is heard . . . When this happens - The message sprouts – it takes root – the competition of the world is removed   so as not to provide a hindrance to its growth – and God’s will is actually accomplished . . . we will finish this thought on the next post - until then GOD BLESS . . .

  

Why parables?

New Blog - New post.  Have you ever wondered why so much of The Bible is written in the form of parables?  The intent of this lesson is to help us understand what parables are and to get some insight as to why Jesus so often taught in parables.

Matt 13: 1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.

Jesus spoke to a very broad type of crowd – this multitude did not consist of only the educated – and neither did it consist of only the ignorant . . . so Jesus had to choose His words wisely so as not to over-whelm those who were hearing the gospel for the first time . . . and the other side of

the coin – was not to discourage those who were more learned in the scriptures with the boredom of teaching “the same things” over and over again.  In the following scripture - we see where Paul says that they should go on to perfection (or to gain spiritual maturity and a greater understanding of the scriptures) by avoiding ONLY teaching and studying about the doctrine of salvation and baptism . . .


Heb 6: 1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 And this will we do, if God permit.

The foundation of repentance from dead works refers to the basic doctrine of salvation by grace through faith, not of works lest any man should boast.  The doctrine of baptisms refers to the New Testament church ordinance of scriptural baptism that is taught in our churches.  The laying on of hands makes reference to the special gifts that were present in the church during the age of the apostles.


The point Paul makes here is that all of these things are most definitely the foundation of a "Christian life", but once the foundation "is laid" it is time to work on building that will rest upon it. 

After we have been saved, after we understand the significance of baptism and have submitted to the proper authority in obedience to God's commandment to symbolize our walk in newness of life through the pictorial ordinance of baptism it is time to start working on "the life" that we plan to build upon our saving faith and upon our obedience to God's commandments of New Testament worship.

3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

So the idea of speaking in parables - is an effective way to teach the lost about their need for salvation while at the same time teaching the child of God that his need is to properly build upon the foundation of faith that has already been laid in his life.

“And he spake many things unto them IN PARABLES” . . . The word parable means to compare “different things together” – it means to form a parallel or a similarity between things that are different . . . for instance we see in Matt 7 a wise builder and a foolish builder – these builders {and

their choice of a solid or a sandy foundation} – is what is compared to the choice that men make
regarding whether or not to “build” their lives upon the strength of God’s Word – or to build their lives upon the shifting sands of the world.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them (or applies my Word to their lives) I will liken (or I will compare) him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell NOT: for it was founded (or built) upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not (or the man who does NOT apply my Words to his life - he) shall be likened (or he will be compared) unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:     And the RESULT of building on the sand is that

27 . . . the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

This parable compares {building a house on a solid foundation} with the man who lived his life paying attention to The Word by APPLYING that word to his life. The analogy (or the parallel) between these two things is that a house that is built upon a solid foundation can endure a storm
without being destroyed in the same way that a life which is patterned after The Word can endure “the storms of life” without being destroyed.

The similarity (or the parallel continues) with how the life of those who hear The Word but will not APPLY that Word to their life will BE LIKE a house that has been built upon the sand – (the comparison between them) is that both (the house and the life) will be a total loss after a storm.

This is how Jesus preaches THE SAME gospel to those who have never heard it – and also to those who have heard it before without laying again the previous foundations of salvation and baptism that as mentioned in Heb 6 . . . On the one hand – when the lost man hears this parable –

he is able to connect the dots and see the comparison of heaven or hell – based upon accepting Jesus as savior . . . and this is a perfectly good interpretation of what we read here as the foolish man is the parallel of the lost man who rejects The Word and suffers loss in “the storm” of God’s judgment.

And the wise man is similar to the saved man who accepts The Word and is “spared” in the day of judgment. But not everyone who Jesus speaks to with a parable is lost . . . there are other applications which are just as valid as the comparison that we just made between being saved and lost and heaven and hell –

When those who are saved read this parable – they can learn something more than simply being reminded how they were saved . . . they can grow in understanding as they are able to see a comparison between an obedient child of God and a disobedient child of God.

The disobedient child of God falls in love with the world and even though he does not lose his soul – his life is counted for loss – because he fails every test that God sends to him for the purpose of making his reliance upon God stronger . . . and then in the life of those who properly fear God we    

can see the obedient child being spared many of the trials that come upon those who are being punished for their disobedience . . . when "the faithful" face “the storms” of life – they are totally dependent upon God – and this is how they are able to “come through” the storm without a damaged life.

So the very same parable – the very same message teaches very different lessons – depending upon the need in the lives of those who hear it taught.

“But this is not all” that we find in this parable . . . there are churches which God sees as being foolish.  A church can be considered foolish because of how they have left their first love like the church of Ephesus did . . . Churches are not immune to the “storms of life” any more so than the individuals within them are . . .

When a church is faced with adversity – with trials – with persecutions . . . the type of ground upon which she stands (how firm her foundation is) will be the difference between moving toward maturity by drawing closer to God OR a lack of spiritual understanding as she moves closer to the world . . .
 
So we have ONE story from God’s Word and we have at least Three completely different applications . . . the lost man who rejects God’s Word is like a foolish builder who puts his entire fortune into a house built upon “the world” which falls apart when tested by a storm . . . and the opposite of

this true for the wise man who put his trust in Jesus.  The man who puts the hope of his eternal life on anything except Jesus – will be disappointed when he walks through the doorway of death and
wakes up in hell . . .

The child of God who is at home in the world – so that he makes no attempt to please the God of his salvation – he will also be disappointed in judgment – when he suffers loss and understands that he is saved – yet so as by fire . . .

And the New Testament Church who puts religion before Christianity is a church that will be disappointed when they stand beside the church of Ephesus and lose the candlestick of church authority because they loved "other things" more than they loved Jesus . . .

So how does this parable apply to us – are we lost and does this parable of the foolish and wise builder convict our heart of heaven and hell . . .

Re 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

As a child of God – does the parable of the foolish builder and the wise builder convict our heart of the obedience that IS NOT present in our heart?

Nu 32:23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

As a church – as the spiritual body of Christ whose responsibility until Jesus returns - is to both teach and to preserve the gospel . . . is our heart convicted as a church because we are guilty of trying to love the world while also trying to love God and His Truth – which means that like the

church at Ephesus – we have left our first love and stand in danger of (not losing our salvation, but) losing our candlestick of church authority?

Rev 2: 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.




It is my hope that this lesson has at least to some degree fulfilled the intent of Heb 6: 1 ¶ Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.



Salvation is without a doubt the greatest gift that God has ever given to mankind.  But lest those of us who have been saved forget . . . "The knowledge" of how to serve - "The knowledge" of how to worship - "The knowledge" of how to please the God that saved us is worth any sacrifice in this present life to not only pursue this knowledge - but once it is gained - to never let go of it.


It is a good thing if we are glad we have been saved . . . but it is also a good thing (after salvation) to spend our lives in pursuit of how to please our savior and not to lay again the foundation of repentance from dead works . . .




God bless until the next post.