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The Second Sunday Before Lent
Parable of the Sower
February 11, 2010

TEXT: NKJ Luke 8:4 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 "Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 "But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold." When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" 9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, "What does this parable mean?" 10 And He said, "To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, 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 by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 "But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
 
Scripture is filled with symbolism—God intended it that way—today we are going to examine a parable which Jesus presents and interprets for the benefit of His disciples—the parable of the sower—as we discussed many times before—Scripture is intended to interpret Scripture—all of God’s Word works together—the parable being considered today is Jesus’ teaching His disciples by using the parable of the text and the Old Testament writings—this lesson is included in three of the four Gospels—so there is plenty of opportunity to grasp its lesson completely
But not everyone will grasp the lesson—Jesus makes it very clear that some will hear the Word and not understand
 
NKJ Matthew 13:13 "Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; 15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.' 16 "But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 "for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
 
Notice that Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah—Scripture interprets Scripture—harmony of the Word
 
NKJ Isaiah 6:9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people: 'Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' 10 "Make the heart of this people dull, And their ears heavy, And shut their eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And return and be healed."
 
In Mark’s account—we gain added insight concerning the mysteries of God—that is—not everyone is privileged to understand these mysteries—and again Jesus is referring to the words of Isaiah
 
NKJ Mark 4:10 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.' " 13 And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
 
Paul taught us that understanding the mysteries of God is a gift—man cannot obtain it without the help of the Holy Spirit
 
NKJ 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
NKJ 1 Corinthians 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
 
With this foundation of the lesson in place—let us approach the parable—and understand the lesson of Jesus—that there are four types of disciples
The First Type of Disciple
NKJ Luke 8:5 "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.
 
This is the first type of disciple—it is listed first—because it represents the majority of people—Jesus explains who these people are
 
NKJ Luke 8:12 "Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
 
These are the people that hear the Word—they sit in churches—they are students in Bible classes—they take communion—they are baptized—they call themselves Christians—but the Word does not penetrate their hardened hearts—they receive the message but they do not change the way they live to obey God—that is, they do not live according to the teachings of the Word—that’s why Jesus uses the example of the seed on the hardened path—it cannot and does not take root
 
It lies on their path until Satan takes it away from them—the Word does not rest in their hearts—the birds are Satan and his messengers who take the Word of God from them—these people are the majority of the so-called Christians—and they will not go to heaven—Satan sends his false teachers to tread on the Word of God—and replace it with the doctrine of men—these people think they are going to heaven because they attend church or do other things to deserve heaven—but our Lord teaches us differently
 
NKJ Matthew 7:21 " Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
 
These people are confused and dying—as they sit in church and Bible study on Sunday—they do not know Jesus or His salvation—a grim reminder to us—just because we sit in church week after week—does not mean we are going to meet in heaven—as a pastor—I must fight off the temptations to avoid my work—and I must maintain a sense of urgency about my sermons and teachings—knowing full well that Satan is attacking me—and he is attacking you every day—he wants your hearts and your souls—and it is each of our jobs to fight him every step of the way—to love one another—to encourage one another—or to watch one another die for all eternity—being a Christian is not a spectator sport—we each have to participate in our own way—Paul understood this perhaps better than any of us—he had a glimpse of heaven—he knew what was at risk—heed his warnings
 
NKJ 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
 
Jesus ends His teaching on this group with one statement—they will not be saved—that remains no matter how good a life they live—or how holy a life they appear to be living
 
The Second Type of Disciple
TEXT: NKJ Luke 8:6 "Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.
 
And Jesus’ teaching on the meaning of these words
 
TEXT: NKJ Luke 8:13 "But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.
 
This is the second-largest group of those calling themselves Christians—but unlike the first group—this group takes the Word into their hearts—and understand the proper teachings of salvation—they know that it is by faith that they are saved—that it is by the grace of God—but the first time they are tested they turn away from God—they wither and die—that is they die for all eternity—because they have weak faith—their roots are not sufficient to sustain them—they are not properly nourished with the Word
The Third Type of Disciple
 
TEXT: NKJ Luke 8:7 "And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.
 
And Jesus’ explanation
 
TEXT: NKJ Luke 8:14 "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
 
These people hear the Word—understand it correctly—but they do not earnestly give themselves to the Word—but become indifferent and follow the pleasures of this world—they bear no fruits of faith—and there among the thorns of the pleasure of this world they choke and die—because they make no use of the nourishment of the Word—which could raise them past the thorns of this world—even to heaven
 
The Fourth Type of Disciple
TEXT: NKJ Luke 8:8 "But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold." When He had said these things He cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
 
And Jesus teaching on this last group of disciples—or people who are called Christians—now for the explanation of Jesus
 
TEXT: NKJ Luke 8:15 "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
 
These are the people who hear the Word with a good and honest heart—retain the Word—meditate on the Word—live in harmony with the Word—and are not distracted by the things of this world--they bear fruit by teaching others about Christ and salvation—and they are constantly involved in developing the Kingdom of God--their love for their neighbor shows through in their daily lives—they are tempted and suffer for their love of the Word—this is the smallest group of hearers—and it is possible for even these Christians to fall away from the Word
 
NKJ 2 Timothy 4:9 Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, ...
 
Into which category does each of us fall?  And how can we remain in the clear fields and good soil so we can grow in the Word?—hear the Word regularly—and live in harmony with that Word—and God will bless you with spiritual growth
 
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!!