The key focus of the 'Parable Of The Sower' is the soil, and the soil represents the heart. For that reason I also like to call it "The Parable of the Hearts". By reading this parable, we are going to learn the importance of the heart and how the condition of our heart determines our response to the Word of God.
There is also something very important about this parable, because Jesus said concerning this to His disciples:
'Know (Strong's # G1492 = To perceive, discern, understand) ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? (Mark 4:13)
Lets
use the 3 gospels where the Parable of the Sower is found,
Matthew 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke8:4-18.
I divided the verses in 4 sections in order to study them better:
1/ - Listen (pay attention) a sower went to sow
Matthew 13:1-3
- 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;
Mark 4:1-3
- And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered
unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat
in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. 2 And
he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his
doctrine, 3 Hearken (Strong's
#1801: give ear to, listen);
Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
Luke 8:4 -5a-
And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out
of every city, he spake by a parable: 5 A
sower went out to sow his seed:
**********
2/ - The seed in each type of soil.
Matt. 13:4-9:
and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the
way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 some fell upon stony places,
where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because
they had no deepness of earth: 6 and when the sun was up, they
were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered
away. 7 And some fell among thorns;
and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 but other fell
into good ground, and brought
forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some
thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears
to hear, let him hear.
Mark
4:4-9 and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way
side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured
it up. 5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much
earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth
of earth: 6 but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it
had no root, it withered away. 7
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked
it, and it yielded no fruit.
8 And other fell on good ground, and did
yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought
forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. 9 And
he said unto them, He that hath ears
to hear, let him hear.
Luke
8:5b-8 - and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was
trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. 6 And some
fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung 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 And other fell on
good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when
he had said these things, he cried, He that
hath ears to hear,
let him hear.
**********
3/ - Jesus explains the parable to His disciples
Matt.13:10-17 - And the
disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in
parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because
it is given unto you to know the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him
shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore
speak I to them in parables: because they seeing
see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By
hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall
see, and shall not perceive: 15 for this people’s heart is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
understand with their
heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them. 16 But blessed
are
your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17
For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men
have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not
seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and
have not heard them.
Mark 4:10-13 - And when he
was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of
him the parable. 11 And he said unto them, Unto
you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto
them that are without, all these
things are done in parables: 12 that seeing they may see, and
not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at
any time they should be converted, and their sins should be
forgiven them. 13 And he said unto them, Know
ye not this parable? and how then will ye know
all parables?
Luke 8:9-10 - And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
Matt.13:18-23:
Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19 When any one heareth
the word of the kingdom,
and understandeth it not,
then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which
was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way
side. 20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is
he that heareth the word,
and anon with joy receiveth
it; 21 yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while:
for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the
word, by and by he is offended. 22 He also that received
seed among the thorns is he that heareth
the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of
riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
(See: Matt.3:10; John15:5-6; 12:24).
23 But he that received seed into
the good ground is he that heareth
the word, and understandeth it;
which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty.
Mark 4:14-20 – The
sower soweth the word. 15 And these are they by the way side, where
the word is sown; but when they have
heard, Satan cometh
immediately, and taketh
away the word that was
sown in their hearts. 16 And these are they likewise which are sown
on stony ground; who, when they
have heard
the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17 and have no root
in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when
affliction or persecution
ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.
18 And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear
the word, 19 and the
cares of this world, and
the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering
in, choke the
word, and it becometh
unfruitful.
20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear
the word, and receive
it,
and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an
hundred.
Luke 8:12-18
- The
Parable of the Sower Explained 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. 16 “No one, when he has lit
a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it
under a bed, but sets it
on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For
nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything
hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 Therefore
take heed how
you hear. For whoever has, to him
more will be given;
and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken
from him.”
All the 4 hearts (grounds) heard the Word of God, but the heart that was all hard like a sideway heard the word, but it doesn't even received it.
The other 3 hearts received the word, but in different ways:
1/ The shallow heart believed for a while, but it didn't last.
2/ The heart with thorns is a believer, but he/she is too busy with cares of this world, doesn't spend enough time with the Lord & because of that he/she doesn't bring fruit to maturity. Many Christians read this parable & understand its meaning but miss this very important fact. They are eager to serve the Lord and want to go running to bring a harvest, so they try to work on their own. Some may even try to witness to at least "x" amount of people, thinking that this will get them somehow on the safe side, but sadly they are deceiving themselves, (Jehovah's Witnesses work really hard to witness to others but that wont take them to heaven, Catholics & others do a lot of charity works, but that doesn't save them), the fruit from our heart is much more than that, many miss the main reason of why or how we give fruit:
"As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:4-10).
- Abides Strong's # G3306, to remain, to continue to be present, to survive, to live, to remain as one.
God abides in our hearts: 'And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father'. Galatians 4: 6
The branches cannot give fruit on their own, the vine is the source of the fruit not the branches. The branches without the vine cannot give fruit but will dry up. The branch is just an instrument & when is full of the sap that comes from the vine it will produce fruit without effort. In other words the fruit is a consequence of the vine's sap filling the branch Remember it isn't us, it's all His work in us, we got nothing to boast about.
3/ And Finally Only 1 of them is a good heart and bears fruit with patience, because they spend time in their relationship with the Lord & are learning to be led by the Holy Spirit to do His will, and because of that, they produce a fruit. A fruitful Christian is one who is able to bear fruit to bless others. Many focus on just works (unbelievers also have works),
Jesus said "Therefore by their fruits you will know them" (Matt. 7:20) not by they works, their fruits are their actions & their words, are you teaching false doctrine? are you lying? are you offending others? are you using people for your benefit or serving them? are you doing works to gain favor, or a position? are you proud? Is people seeing the fruit of the Spirit in you? and the main one, are you loving others?
'But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law'. Gal. 5:22.
See examples in the bible of each kind of ground/heart:
Sideway- Acts 26:28
Rocky soil- John 6:51-67
Thorns- Luke18:18-23
Good soil- Acts 10
By this parable we can learn that:
1. The condition of our heart determines if we receive salvation. (God doesn't want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance - 2 Peter 3:9).
2. Our heart's condition affects our ability to understand and receive the Word of God. (Mark 6:52; 8:17).
3. The condition of our heart affects our spiritual growth & fruit. (Luke 8:15, Mark 4:20)
4. Our heart's condition affects also our ability to see with our spiritual eyes & to hear with our spiritual ears. (Matt.13:15; Mark 8:17-19; Acts 28:26-27)
5. Because all of the things mention above, the condition of our heart affects our relationship with God.
(See also Prov.28:14; Prov.21:2; 1 Samuel 16:7; Lucas 10:27)
Ephesians 4:18: 'having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness (Strong #4457= callousness, blindness, hardness) of their heart').
The
Word of God tells us the
importance of guarding
our hearts Proverbs 4: 23
'Keep (guard)
thy heart
with all
diligence; for
out of it are
the issues of life.'
We also see in the Parable that to the believer it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, we were blessed with eyes that see: and with ears that hear. ( God opened our spiritual eyes & ears, when we repented & were born again). We noticed the Lord emphasized about the way we HEAR His Word (spiritual truth).
"For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him". Whoever has what? ear to hear & eyes to see.
We also see in the Parable that to the believer it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, we were blessed with eyes that see: and with ears that hear. ( God opened our spiritual eyes & ears, when we repented & were born again). We noticed the Lord emphasized about the way we HEAR His Word (spiritual truth).
"For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him". Whoever has what? ear to hear & eyes to see.
We can pray for our brethren & ourselves that the
Lord would reveal anything in their/our hearts, that hinders our
relationship with Him, so we can repent & ask for a cleansing of heart. We need a clean heart to understand His ways and keep them.
"Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart." Psalm 119:34.
And also we can pray before witnessing to the unbelievers, that the Lord could prepare and soften their hearts, so they can receive the Word of God, understand it & be saved.
In Christ's Love, to whom be the glory forever. Amen
Margarita Franco
"Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart." Psalm 119:34.
And also we can pray before witnessing to the unbelievers, that the Lord could prepare and soften their hearts, so they can receive the Word of God, understand it & be saved.
In Christ's Love, to whom be the glory forever. Amen
Margarita Franco
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