The Parable of the Sower: Unlocking the Secrets of the Parables

This morning, I want to encourage those who may be listening by podcast that

you do take a look at Luke chapter 8, read verses 4 through 21 this morning,

Luke 8 · chapter mention

and then come on back to the message because we read that earlier,

and I don't want you to miss reading it all together,

verse after verse, but we're going to break it down this morning in the message as well.

But Jesus has been going from one town and village to another, proclaiming what?

The good news of the kingdom of God. It tells us that back in verse 1 of chapter 8.

We saw that last week. And guess what, church?

Large crowds were gathering from these towns to actually hear his message, it tells us in verse 4.

And that context, I think, is so important because understanding the so-called,

the famous, the parable of the sower is what we're looking at to start with today.

And despite the subject matter of the parable, I think y'all know this already,

but just so you know, Jesus is not concerned about some sort of agricultural

teaching techniques or anything like that here or harvesting strategies.

That's not what this is about.

Instead, he is concerned to make the crowds here understand that his message

demands a response from those who hear it.

I think sometimes we forget that, don't we? When we hear God's word,

when we hear the message, especially of the kingdom of God proclaimed,

of salvation of any kind. It demands a response.

And his warning, as we saw earlier in verse 18, it's a good summary,

I think, of that larger point of the passage.

Look at what he said in verse 18. He says, therefore, consider carefully how you listen.

You know, there's different ways we can listen, Brother Ronnie.

Consider carefully how you listen. And we're going to look at that deeper this morning.

In fact, Luke has already introduced us to Jesus's use of parables,

right? We saw that back in chapter 5, chapter 6, chapter 7.

But this parable is longer and it contains more moving parts than most.

But I also want you to know this, that Jesus said, this is the key.

This parable is actually the key to understanding or unlocking the mysteries

of all the other parables of Jesus. This one right here.

And it's longer, like I said, but while the story itself is not complex,

the meaning and the purpose of this is less clear sometimes to people, right?

And thankfully, we're not left to guess. I am so grateful for that because Jesus

actually complies with the disciples' request for further explanation in verse 9 of chapter 8.

And he tells us, frankly, in verse 11, the meaning of this parable.

So we don't have to have any guesswork here at all.

So as we go to this first slide, we're going to talk about the sower, the seed, and the soils.

The sower, the seed, and the soils. at the beginning of verse five,

we're introduced to a sower and his seed, by the way.

And in verse 11, the seed is identified as what?

The word of God, right? And in immediate context here, the immediate context,

the sower is clearly who?

Or Jesus right here in this context, right? The one who is proclaiming the good news.

And let me just say this, though through the next centuries, guess what?

You and I, his followers, we're joining him in this task of sowing.

So today we're spreading the seed of the word of God, right?

And we're spreading that seed as sowers, partakers in his ministries.

But just as a farmer will cast his seed broadly in expectation of a harvest.

So Jesus here, he's declaring the word of God without a great detail here of discrimination at all.

It's just the word of God is thrown out there, right? I mean,

it is thrown everywhere.

And the sower and the seed remain constant, though, throughout this parable

that we see in the passage.

But the main variable, and get ready, the main variable is the type of soil

on which the seed falls, right?

That's the main variable. So therein lies, though, the explanation for why that

same seed of the Word of God, sown by the same sower, possibly,

and in this passage definitely,

can produce a radically different response in people.

Y'all, that's a phenomenon that Luke has just demonstrated for us.

We just saw it last week, did we not in chapter seven? In Simon's house, right?

In the parable here today, though, as in farming, the fate of the seed depends

on the quality, again, of what? The soil on which it falls.

So the first group of seed falls where do we see in verse five?

Where does that first group of seed fall? The wayside or the path, right?

A well-traveled path in a field would be packed down and hardened.

And by definition, it was the place where nothing would grow.

And so instead of finding a reception into soil that had been tilled,

been prepared, seed that fell on the path of the wayside would remain on the

surface, be there on the surface.

It's exposed to what? You can probably think about it.

Both to the feet of people walking by and also to birds looking for an easy

meal. easy to get to right and

in this case here in the passage we're told that the birds represent who.

The devil or Satan, right, who comes and takes away the word from their hearts, it says in verse 12.

So this first soul describes people who actually hear the word of God or word

of Jesus, but are hardened to it.

It never takes root in their lives. But guess what? It's immediately gone,

bearing absolutely no fruit at all.

But sadly, both Luke's gospel and the book of Acts, They literally contain no

shortage of examples, these wood, of this kind of soil. It's all over the place.

Well, look at verse six in chapter eight. The second set of seeds fell on what kind of ground?

Rocky ground. You know, this time a plant sprung up in the thin layer of topsoil

that was there, but was never able to penetrate its roots into the rocky subsoil below it.

And so as a result, guess what?

The plant had no staying power.

It withered because they had no moisture, it says in Scripture.

And Jesus explains actually in verse 13, if you look at it there,

that this kind of soil represents people who believe for a while,

but in the time of testing, they fall away. Y'all have probably seen this before.

You've probably seen it in your church before. And with this type of people,

there's apparently spiritual life of some sort in response to the proclamation of the word.

They receive it with joy, after all, it says in verse 13. and initially all

appears well, all appears well.

Maybe they walk the aisle, all that, even get baptized.

All appears good to start with. But when trials arise in their lives,

it becomes apparent that the spiritual life is just superficial.

They'd never really had a transformation of heart. And just as that scorching

heat, as Jesus describes, of summer comes and it tests the depth of a plant's

root system, So the same way the difficulties of life, church.

Loss of job, bad diagnosis of health, whatever it may be, a fractured or divorce

or whatever happens, the same way the difficulties of life will serve to reveal

whether or not the roots of our faith run deep.

Whether it's real or not. And so in the third type of soil, the seed actually

meets with competition.

There's something else growing in the field. What is it in verse seven? Somebody see it?

You got it. Thorn bushes, right? That would rob the seedlings of what?

Water, light, and nutrients.

Growing up alongside the fruit of the seed, these thorns choked the plants, it says.

And so that kind of soil just represents people, you know, in verse 14,

Jesus said, who hear, but they do not mature.

The new growth of spiritual life finds itself in competition.

I said that earlier, but with life worries or riches and pleasures even of life.

And those worldly concerns, actually, Jesus is telling us, choke the life out

of the plant and prevent the seed from growing into a fruitful plant.

And Luke actually shows us an example of this. If you remember that this dynamic

in the story of the rich ruler, right, who wanted to follow Jesus, but what?

He was unwilling to leave behind his considerable riches.

That was a competition. And that's in Luke 18. We haven't got to that yet,

but we've talked about it, even in our study with Way of the Master.

But many would-be disciples—I want you to get this today, Eastwood— have found

themselves walking away from Jesus in order to pursue what?

Worldly wealth and the pleasures of this life.

And so far, I get it. So far, I know it. The picture is fairly depressing that we're looking at here.

The message of the kingdom is rejected and abandoned for so many different reasons.

But look at verse 8. But when the seed falls on good soil, we see a very different result.

When the seed actually meets a noble and good heart, it says in verse 15.

That hears the word of God, retains it, and perseveres in it, the result is what?

An impressive and fruitful crop, a life that bears fruit.

And that spectacular growth that we see Jesus describe,

it more than compensates I think for the

disappointment of the other three soils and by

the way as we're going to reinforce in a moment and you're going to see of

these four soils only one results in

a salvation the other three is no salvation it plainly tells us that and we'll

look at that but suddenly here what seemed to you know be disappointing we see

in the good soil here good soil here turns out to be a fruitful crop it replaces

the crop a hundred times more than was sown.

So that represents, y'all, an extraordinary harvest. Wow.

What seemed to be ill-conceived and ineffective sowing strategy here turns out

to be the power of God at work to produce astounding results.

And so one of the theologians, Edwards, puts it this way.

He said, God is at work, hidden and unremarkable as seed itself,

in Jesus and the gospel to produce a yield wholly disproportionate to human prospects and merit.

The extravagant sowing, he said, that seemed mistaken and futile is vindicated by bumper crop.

That good soil that it falls on, church. So that brings us to this.

I want you all to see this today. Don't lose this. There are two ways to hear.

Remember I said that at the beginning? Two ways to hear. Jesus tells this parable

in order to produce an effect in his hearers.

He doesn't merely hear. He's not aiming to inform us as if it were enough that

we understand why it is that some people reject the word while others embrace it.

Instead here, Jesus is alerting the crowds in this passage and us,

by the way, to the eternal significance of the way that we hear his word.

Jesus concludes here, church, that his parable here with an ominous warning

to us all that we should hear him if we have the spiritual ears to do so.

The disciples here, they received a rare gift, though. We saw that in verse 10, did we not?

What did they receive? Look at it again. The knowledge of the secrets of the

kingdom of God has been given to them.

So Jesus was speaking the truth to them, giving them the power to comprehend

it. And those things are called secrets, right?

Not because they are obscure or shadowy or somehow like that,

but because they can only be known if God chooses to reveal them.

They're God's secrets, in other words. He can choose to divulge or withhold them as he wishes.

And in his kindness, church, he has revealed these things to the disciples.

But for others, the parables, as we look at it today, may well serve as a barrier

to truth. What do I mean by that?

Look at the end of verse 10 there.

Hang with me a moment. End of verse 10, Jesus quotes from Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6:9

verse 9, to the effect that there will be those who hear him,

get this church, here's the two types of ways, in a physical sense.

How many of you hear me today with your ear?

In a physical sense. But in this passage, it says they never truly hear him in a spiritual sense.

So there's the physical sense of hearing and the spiritual sense of hearing.

The sound of Jesus' voice, these would, reaches their ears, but the beauty and

power of Jesus' message never reaches their hearts.

And that kind of people hear Jesus. They hear his words, but they don't understand it.

And on the surface, that statement might seem cold-hearted, but as if Jesus

were somehow indifferent to the spiritual well-being of others.

But in reality, the quote from Isaiah here is meant to have the effect of shocking

the crowd that he's talking to into truly hearing him spiritually.

As Snodgrass puts it, the theologian, he says, there is hope,

but only if the shock of the Isaiah quote has its effect to cause hearing,

basically spiritual hearing.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom that comes through the word.

It is a kingdom that is first proclaimed and then must be received and rejoiced in, he said.

And so we got to consider carefully, church.

Consider carefully, as we see in this next slide. And in order to help us today

interpret the parable of the sower, Luke actually records for us Jesus saying

about the lamp in the stand.

Look quickly at verse 16 there in Luke 8.

It's repeated almost word for word, by the way. We'll see in chapter 11, verse 33.

An oil lamp, think about it today, an oil lamp produced roughly as much light as a candle would.

And so in order for it to be most useful, it needed to be elevated where?

On a stand, right? And to put such a light under a bed or to cover it under

a jar, that's going to defeat the purpose of the lamp entirely.

And so here, the lampstand characterizes who do you think?

Jesus is teaching, right? Which serves as a lampstand actually to broadcast the truth of God.

God has not hidden the light of the good news under a bed, he says in verse 17.

But he has sent his son, Eastwood, God in the flesh, Jesus, to reveal the secrets

of the kingdom of God, as it talks about in verse 10.

The four soils are distinguished by how they hear or respond to,

if you will, the light on the stand.

Some, Eastwood, hear the word with a good heart. Those are the ones who have

and who will be given more, it says in verse 18.

They will bear fruit exponentially and receive many blessings from Christ.

Those who hear the word with a bad heart on one of the other three types of

soils ultimately find that they have lost it.

Something snatches it away or kills it in them.

Even when they think they have possessed, scripture says it will be taken from them.

And Jesus mentioned them at the end of verse 18. In light of all this,

Jesus here, he issues a solemn warning to his hearers that they must consider carefully how you hear.

It's clear, church, that it's not enough to merely hear the word of God.

It's not enough for you to come on Sunday morning and hear the word of God proclaimed,

it's not even enough to acknowledge, as we see in this next slide,

the truth of Jesus' message and even his identity.

Instead, to truly hear Jesus' message means to internalize it and obey it.

You see, you have not heard what God's word says until you internalize it and obey it.

You see, in other words, we can proclaim God's word.

His word can be taught in your class or from this pulpit, but if you only hear

it physically and you don't hear it spiritually, you don't internalize it and

obey it, and you walk out of here the same as when you were here, it does you no good.

In fact, that's the point of Jesus' reaction to the news of the arrival of his

mother and brothers in verses 19 and 20.

His comment, see it there, verse 21?

My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and what?

What does it say? Do it. Put it into practice.

It should not be understood in a disrespectful, he's not being disrespectful to his family.

Instead, Jesus has taken the opportunity here to make an important point,

y'all. there is a kind of family that is closer than that based on merely biological relationship.

Those who not only merely hear the word, but also put the word into practice,

are truly disciples of Jesus.

In other words, they're Jesus people, Eastwood. They're not related to him by

blood in the sense that we think, but by obedience to his message, right? Right?

Jesus has already raised this issue back in chapter 6. We saw that,

where he compared somebody who hears him and obeys him.

Remember this one to somebody who actually builds his house on a rock?

Remember when the storms of life, those same trials, temptations,

struggles, all that come? What happens when he builds his house on the rock? It stands, right?

And in the end, that's the crucial difference. I want y'all to see that today

between the soils in Jesus' parable here.

All four soils receive the seed, Eastwood, all of them.

They hear the word. How many of you hear the word this morning?

But the first three of them do not hear it right. How many of you,

are you all hearing it right today?

Did you just hear it physically or are you hearing it spiritually in your life, in your heart?

And you see, if you are, that means you're going to respond to it in faith and

obedience because if you don't embrace it and put it into practice,

the seed never produces results in your

actions y'all i mean how many times do we see and i'm just going to be can i

get real with y'all for a moment is that okay we talk about faithfulness to

god and his word we talk about all these things and sometimes we it seems like

you know you're teaching Brother Ronnie or you're preaching or whatever you're doing.

And it's like, does anybody hear what we're saying? Does anybody hear the word of God?

Because you don't see the actions. We don't see lives change sometimes, right?

You don't see people actually changing that say they've heard. Jesus tells us why.

Because when you hear him respond to the lifestyle that bears fruit,

that's a lifestyle, church. Don't lose this today.

That's marked by obedience to God as revealed in the message of Jesus here.

You and I would do well to examine our lives today.

Do we exercise care in how we respond to the word of God?

Can you point to places in your life where you've done something,

a refrain from doing something simply because you wanted to put Jesus' words into practice?

You hurt him spiritually, in other words, and your life changed as a result. Your heart was changed.

Are you able to discern the threats to the growth of the seed in your life,

to the word of God in your life?

Are there ways maybe that you've allowed the devil, or maybe life's trials like

we talked about earlier, or the deceitfulness of riches even?

Maybe you're striving after wealth more than you're striving after Jesus.

And it's going to choke out the growth of God's Word in your life.

You see, those are literally matters as we see here.

This last slide literally matters of eternal consequence, y'all.

Those who did not respond, did y'all get this today? Don't lose this.

Those who don't respond with this kind of belief in verse 12 of chapter 8 plainly

tells us will not be saved.

You can hear God's word all your life. You can hear what he says.

You can even read what he says.

You can hear the preacher. You can hear the teacher. You can hear your favorite one.

But if you never hear spiritually, internalize the truth and respond to Jesus

in repentance and faith or whatever's needed there, and you walk in the truth,

you walk in obedience to what he's shown you,

you'll never experience eternal life.

Especially with the guy this hey this is talking about the gospel y'all

jesus couldn't have been more clear couldn't

have been more clear here if you only hear physically your life's never changed

you might try to do better you might make that new year's resolution right you

know you might try say i'm gonna try harder next time i'm gonna be more faithful

to church than i have been I'm going to try to serve God better.

But you're just hearing physically. Because if you hear spiritually,

Jesus said, there is no trying there, is there?

There's actually surrender, repentance, and obedience.

That doesn't mean we're going to be perfect, y'all, but it means that we're

going to walk in truth. It means that we're going to bear fruit according to this passage.

I hope y'all can see it today and you have spiritual ears to hear that if you're

not producing fruit as a child of God, you're not a child of God. Read the passage.

You will not be saved. So I think that's a heart check for all of us today.

Have you just been going through the motions? Have you been hearing the words

physically, but not spiritually?

You see, the proof is in a life that's changed, a life that's different.

Not because we're trying harder, but because we surrender it all to Jesus.

And we lay it at his feet and we trust in the power of him and his Holy Spirit

working in and through us to do the things that he's called us to do.

A life that's changed you know

why sometimes people have a problem being faithful and committed to christ because

they've never heard him spiritually they've only been hearing it physically

saying i'll do better they've never had a heart change they've never said what

we sang earlier here's my heart lord speak what's true to me let's stand if you will.