Alright. So this lesson is the "Kingdom Parables".
This is lesson number six in that series. The title is "The Parable of the Sower and the Seed".
We'll be in Matthew Chapter 13.
So when I began this series on the kingdom parables I told you that there were 13 of Jesus's
parables where he is describing the kingdom.
Of these 13 kingdom parables,
some were about cooking. The kingdom was like leaven for example, that
began small but had great visible influence.
Others were about fishing.
The kingdom was like a net that captured many fish which were then separated.
The kingdom was like feasts.
In one the kingdom was like a wedding feast where you needed to be properly attired to remain
and then also the kingdom was like a wedding ceremony where you needed to be ready so that
you could get in to the ceremony and not be left behind.
And then some were about money. The kingdom was like a pearl or a treasure
that you would give everything up in order to possess.
The kingdom was like a person who enables his employees to invest his money
and then rewards the ones who do so faithfully and profitably.
And then there was the one where Jesus says the kingdom was like a king
who was prepared to forgive a great debt to one of his servants if that
servant would show the same type of mercy to others.
So those are the ones that we've done so far.
In our lesson today we're going to start the final series of parables on the kingdom.
The five parables that use agriculture as a base for their stories.
That's why we're at the parable of the sower and the seed.
Now they often refer to this parable as the parable of the soils
because it is not really about the sower and it's not really about the seed.
It's really about the different kinds of soil that the sower puts his seed into.
This parable appears in Matthew 13.
Also in Mark Chapter 4 verses 1 to 12.
And in Luke Chapter 8 verses 4 to 10.
We're not going to do all three versions of it. We will do the one that is in
Matthew which is pretty comprehensive.
It gives us all that information that we need to study this parable.
And the parable has three sections to it. The first section is the
parable itself, the story itself.
The next part is an explanation of why Jesus used
this style of teaching. In other words, why did he use parables? An explanation
from Jesus himself. So far I've explained to you why
Jesus used them. Today we're going to actually look at
the explanation that Jesus gives. And then an explanation of the parable itself.
So this is not a personality or a story driven parable.
It is based on a common observation that any person could make then as well as now.
The beauty of it is, you could be living in the year
2000 and you could be living in the year 3000, it's the same story, so generic is it.
So the parable itself. Let's understand something that's taking place ahead of time,
before the parable, because that helps us to understand the context.
So in chapter 12 verses 46 to 50 we read about
the family of Jesus trying to get him to go home with them.
They're starting to say this guy is crazy. He's causing trouble.
There's all kinds of turmoil around him. So his family naturally, they go to him
and say, you need to come home and you need to rest.
And so the next chapter, Chapter 13, continues the story
with what happened after he went home.
And so in Chapter 13, verse one, we begin,
"That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea."
So the Lord apparently... it doesn't tell you in chapter 12 that he did go home because
in chapter 12 he says, "Well, who is my brother, who is my sister". Right?
"The ones that obey the Word of the Lord. Those are my brothers and sisters." And then it just stops there.
It doesn't tell us, "And so therefore he went home with them to appease his mom, to calm
everybody's nerves in his family" it doesn't say that. It just picks up the story that he's at home now,
in verse 1 chapter 13. So on that same day,
He returns outside and He goes to the water's edge.
So let's read verse 2. It says, "And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat
and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach."
And so because He's crowded in He uses the boat to push
away from the shore and he's going to use the boat like a floating stage.
And he also uses it to sit down because in those days the teachers sat in order to
teach their students unlike today. In most lecture halls or churches the teacher is
standing in order to do that work. Also it's pretty hard to
teach people when they're right in front of you, when they're like two or three feet and they're pushing in
and pressing on top of you. So that's the reason for the boat itself.
Verse 3 says, "And he spoke many things to them in parables,"
So at this point he begins to tell them a parable.
And as far as we know this parable was the first one
spoken by the Lord during his ministry.
If you ever wondered, which is the first parable? Well scholars believe this
is the very first one that he spoke. And then we read the
parable itself. He says, "Behold, the sower went out to sow; and as he sowed, some
seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. Others
fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they
sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. But when the sun had risen, they were
scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among
the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. And others fell on the good
soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty
and some thirty." So the story is simple enough.
A sower, a farmer goes out to sow wheat or barley, usually
sown by hand, in Palestine, in those days. The patch of land is
not necessarily large. It has no fences and has a road
either running along side of it or running through the middle of it dividing it in some way.
Some of the seeds fall on the pathway and are eagerly eaten up by the birds.
Not done on purpose, of course, simply seed that lands there while you're throwing
seed out. Some will kind of... if you're close to the pathway some of those seeds will fall on the pathway.
Much of Palestine or much of that area is rocky and
so much of the tilled soil has spots where the rock is barely covered by the earth.
So the heat of the rocks provide
a good temperature for the soil to germinate the seed but
the soil doesn't contain enough moisture to keep it alive in the hot sun.
This is why plants take and grow quickly
but they don't last in that area and that type of soil.
Much of the soil has thorns, weeds, which are
cut but soon grow back with the crop and choke its growth.
And then on the good soil, that soil which has depth and moisture,
properly weeded, the seed is sown and it produces a harvest.
Like any harvest, each grain sown produces a variety of yield.
That's why he said some 30, some 60. It's not a judgment call it's just how it is.
However, the seed that falls on the good soil, whether it produces 30, 60, or 100,
nevertheless, there is a harvest.
In verse 9, he continues, He says, "He who has ears, let him hear."
So Jesus tells his hearers that this simple story has a special
meaning and if they try to understand they may just grasp
what He's trying to say to them. Verse 10.
"And the disciples came and said to Him, 'Why do you speak to them in parables?'
Now in Mark chapter 4:10, Mark says that His
followers, along with the Apostles, came to Him for an explanation of the
parable, along with the reason why he taught this way.
Why are you teaching this way? One of the reasons why we believe this is the first
time that he's kind of given a parable. It isn't that Jesus invented parables.
You know other writers, it was a literary form, it was a story form
that was used by others. And they're wondering why are you, why are you doing this?
You were teaching openly before. Now you're using this device.
Now if anyone tried to understand the parable they would realize that they
couldn't understand the parable without some help.
Of the people who came to him were those who were listening and hearing and searching
for the answers and Jesus is not going to disappoint them,
but first is going to explain the reason why he will teach in parables.
And as I say, the fact that the question arose
suggests that this was one of the first time he used this device.
So this will help the hearers understand
not only this parable but all the other parables that he will eventually teach.
So the reason for the parables, so he's given the parable, the Apostles and
disciples come and ask him to explain it to them. And why do you teach
this way? Then in verses 11 to 17,
He gives them the answer to the first question why does he teach this way
and he does so for a variety of reasons.
First, the knowledge of the kingdom is a blessing.
God is the one who reveals the mysteries of His thoughts and
His intentions. And through the parables He can hide the meaning and the
knowledge of the kingdom from those He doesn't wish to have them.
He doesn't want the ones who are meaning to harm Jesus or
to destroy His ministry, He doesn't want to give them more ammunition than they already have.
And He doesn't want to give the pearls to who?
To the swine. Usually meaning unbelievers, pagans.
So in verse 11, Jesus answered them.
"To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it has not been granted."
I've often struggled with the idea.. does God play... because God doesn't play favorites.
Right? God doesn't play favorites.
But when it explains that about God it also explains the idea that he
does favor those who love him and who obey Him.
So he doesn't play favorites with those who come to him,
who want to know something, who want to serve and obey him. All of those
people who come to him he will treat them equally they will be... they're open
to all the blessings that he has. But he plays favorites in the sense
that if you're not a believer, if you're opposed to him,
well then you will not receive favored treatment.
That's only in our society. We want to treat everybody, the bank robbers and the
heroes, we want to treat them the same way.
But that's not the way it works in the kingdom.
So the Apostles and disciples, they've been granted the privilege to understand,
to penetrate the mysteries of the parable, that Jesus will
explain in a moment. The scribes, the pharisees
and those who follow them, along with the unbelievers, they will not be
permitted to understand. And the reason for this, of course, is
that they will not come to Jesus who is the only one who can explain the
parables and who is the central figure or key to all the parables.
If they want to understand using some other method, they just will not be able to
grasp what He's teaching because you've got to believe He is who He says he is
if you want insight. I take great comfort... I read these...
I read the Psalms sometimes that talk about how God will take care of his
own, that he'll protect his own. And I say
sometimes extrapolate from that, that God will take care of everybody.
And I say, well, what about those guys and what about these guys? They're not being taken care of.
Then I realize, wait a minute. He said He will take care of his own.
The followers of Jesus. And there's no need to feel guilty about that.
I don't feel guilty because God is blessing me richly beyond
anything that I deserve personally. I don't feel guilty about that.
Because the Lord has said to all those who want to follow Him,
who want to believe, that he'll bless you for that. And I don't feel guilty if someone
else who is not a believer, who rejects God, isn't being blessed.
I don't feel personal guilt because of that.
Because God has told us, He'll reveal the mysteries.
He'll open the windows of heaven.
He promises eternal life to whom?
To everybody? No. To those who believe and obey him.
Now we do have a responsibility. And what is that responsibility? Well, to tell other people.
Look, these blessings are open for you.
The door of heaven is open for all those who believe in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized.
That's our responsibility.
So in verse 12 He goes on and says, For whoever has, to him more
shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have,
even what he has shall be taken away from him." See what I'm saying?
Who are the ones that have? The believers.
And who are the ones that don't have? All the nonbelievers.
Those who doubt, those who reject.
So those who have begun to see Jesus and follow and listen to him and obey him
they will receive more knowledge, more insight and
eventually resurrection from the dead and eternal life.
And those who have simply listened to the parable and rejected Christ,
will drift away from him, eventually even forgetting
the parable itself and ultimately becoming his enemy.
Verse 13, "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while
seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."
So for this reason, because some are believing and some are disbelieving,
Jesus is beginning to separate the two by using parables.
It's a sifting device.
You know the wheat and the tares? Well, we always have this idea.
I'm generalizing here but bear with me, that the day of
judgment comes and we're all standing there and that's
when the sifting is going to be done and we're there, "I hope I'm going to make it, I hope He's going to
call my name." And some people, the sheep and the goats and they're always
trying to figure where the goats are, on the left side, but is it left facing him or his left or is it my left?
This sifting doesn't happen after.
The sifting is happening now.
Now the sifting. Now the fish are being separated.
Now the believers and the unbelievers. What comes after is the judgment.
That's what comes after, the judgment and the reward, not the sifting.
So when you say yes to Jesus and I'll follow Lord and I'm doing the best I
can Lord, please Lord help me with my weaknesses and so on.
You're being sifted. You're being taken away and separated from
those who disbelieve and those who reject and those who are unfaithful.
The sifting is happening while we live.
And Jesus is kind of alluding to this idea
right here with the parables. He said I'm already starting to sift out.
Not waiting till the end of the world when I return. We're going to
separate, I won't say the men from the boys, but I'm going to separate the believers from the
unbeliever. I'm going to do that now. It'll be quite obvious.
So for this reason, because some are believing and some are disbelieving,
as I say, Jesus starts to separate the two.
Their disbelief meaning their hearing without understanding, their seeing without perceiving,
will be made evident by Jesus's use of parables.
Is that the only way he sifts? No.
He has other ways of sifting. He says to some, "come follow me" and some
do come and follow him and others like the rich young ruler,
the cost is too high for him.
And others he says, "come follow me and one says, "well, I got to go bury my father. I've got to
take care of my business first." So some at
his invitation just say, "no". And others at his
invitation say, "well, maybe later on, maybe when the time is right, maybe when
I'm better disposed."
That's a sifting moment.
So the knowledge of the kingdom is a blessing reserved for the believers
and the disbelief and the disbelievers rather are filtered out by use of the parables.
And why is the knowledge of the kingdom a blessing?
It's a blessing because we are exposed to the reality of life.
It's the kingdom that's the real thing. The false thing is Hollywood.
I use that term generically. That's the false thing.
The movies, the system, the gossip,
that's the world. That's the false thing. Those are the lies.
The truth is the kingdom of God. That's the truth. How is it a blessing?
We're being exposed to what is true, what is real.
Secondly, we're still talking about why use these, they're use was prophesied.
Verse 14 and 15,
It says, "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, 'You will keep
on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not
perceive; for the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear, And they have closed their eyes, Otherwise they would see with
their eyes, Hear with their ears, And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.' This is the prophet Isaiah.
Prophet Isaiah said that the people would ultimately not believe because they had
cultivated a disbelieving attitude.
And it didn't happen all of a sudden. It didn't happen in the two or three years of Jesus's ministry.
This was decades, centuries, in the
making. Generations of half hearted worship, disobedience,
rejection, and manipulation of God's Word had produced a nation who
were dull and unprepared spiritually for their Messiah.
I don't know who said it. I didn't say it. But I don't know who said it.
But a wonderful saying that I've repeated
often to my own children. Blessed is the man
who is prepared when his time comes.
Jesus had prepared these people for fifteen hundred
years. He had prepared them and so
few of them were ready
when he finally arrived. The same thing with us.
The Lord visits us, if you wish, with an insight,
an understanding, a challenge for service. Perhaps a
challenge like a trial in our life, whether it be
illness or the death of a loved one or whatever. We all have these challenges.
Well, there challenges but they're also an opportunity to demonstrate
what is our faith made of. We're bumping along. Everything's gonna
grooving long and then all of a sudden the Lord takes us, whoops,
dips us into the fire, whatever the fire is for you or me,
then he holds us up to the light and he examines what kind of faith that we have here.
That's a visitation from God.
The unbelievers, what do they see? They only see the trial.
They only want the trial to be over. And when the trial is
over what do they have? Well, nothing.
Just the impact and effects of the trial. The surgery, the loss whatever it is.
But for the believer,
same impact, the trial, the pain, the sorrow, or whatever but there is something else.
There is the knowledge that through this fire, I came through this fire.
And I still believe.
The evil one or the evil thing that happened to me may have destroyed my body in
many ways, may have even destroyed someone that I love,
but did not destroy my faith.
That kind of real life knowledge is a tremendous
blessing because it makes us so much stronger afterwards and
a great comfort to know that God is in charge.
That's not just a saying on a coffee cup.
I mean it's great if you remind yourself. But that's not just a cute saying on a coffee cup.
That's what life is like in the kingdom of God.
So what he was doing and the reason for it
was not a surprise. It wasn't a last minute thing. It was known and
spoken beforehand by the prophets. If they would have been ready, meaning
if they would have been ready because they understood God's word,
they would have understood, another reason to believe that
this is the Messiah, because the prophets, our prophets, said when the Messiah comes
He's going to use this device to speak to the people.
Now was that the only proof? No. There were the miracles, there was
the teaching itself. There was his life and so on.
But that was one proof that any of them could have known had they
known and believed their own scriptures.
And we say, well, what's wrong with those guys? Man, what's their deal?
If I was there I would have taken care of business.
But we have the words spoken to us. Doesn't it? Don't the Apostles tell us be ready?
You never know when the end will come.
Repent. Like I preached on Sunday repent and be baptized because you never know
How many people put it off and put it off. Does it really say that?
Should we really be baptized?
So we tend to do the very same thing as they did. And the New Testament tells us
that their story, 1 Corinthians 10, I believe, that their story, the story of the Jews,
was written for our benefit.
So that we can learn from what they did right and from what they did wrong.
And then thirdly, I'm kind of going off on a few tangents here.
Reasons for the parable, the fullness of time had come.
Verse 16 and 17, He says, "But blessed are
your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desire to see what you see, and
did not see it, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it."
They were blessed because they were living at a time when all of these
things were about to be fulfilled. The patriarchs,
the judges, the kings, the prophets, even the angels, First Peter
chapter 1 verse 12, Peter says, even the angels long to
look into these things. Even the angels want to know
what was the plan. How is it going to work itself out? And they didn't know.
They only saw the shadows, the promises,
the visions, of the coming Messiah. But Jesus says they were blessed
because they were living at a time when these things were actually being
fulfilled and they could hear and see and touch and
be taught by the Messiah himself. Somebody is going to
be alive when Jesus returns.
What an experience that's going to be. It could be us.
We don't know. Imagine that experience. I think about that sometimes.
Imagine that experience.
We get a little rattled when there's an earthquake here in Oklahoma, all of a sudden bang,
the dishes rattle and it kind of...
Whoa, what was that? That was something that is very big. Can you imagine the
end of the world? Jesus, how big that is.
That's not a tornado. We're amazed when we see the lightning flash, here in Oklahoma,
that flat country, we see wow, from the top to the bottom. It's pretty spectacular stuff.
But I imagine the Lord returns. Imagine what you're saying to yourself.
This is the end of the world. It's over. I'm going to go into another dimension.
Somebody is going to have that experience.
He's saying to them, for hundreds of years, your fore fathers,
they wondered what will it be like when the Messiah comes, when all these
prophecies will be fulfilled. And lo and behold Jesus is saying, you're the
ones, you are alive at the time that all these others
hoped for. You are receiving these blessings. And that's why I'm
teaching in parables. Because you believe,
you get to see. You have insight into what is really really happening.
All right. So then He goes on from 18 to 23,
He's going to talk about the meaning. So he's given the parable, he's explained why he's using parables,
now the meaning. Jesus describes,
remember I said this is not about the sower or the seed. It's really about the soil. OK?
So Jesus describes four kinds of soil that receive the seed
and how the seed fairs in each type of soil. We learn that the soil is
a person's heart, his attitude, feelings, beliefs, will.
The seed is God's Word of the kingdom.
The sower is Jesus himself. The parable explains that a
person's spiritual life or death
or development is based on how that person receives
God's word into their heart.
So let's look at the soils. The hard soil. He says, "Hear the parable of the sower.
When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it,
the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.
This is the one on whom the seed was sown beside the road." So the side of
the field, the pathway, the hard packed dirt, the birds come and
they take the seed away even as it's being sown.
Now we see this happening with people don't we? People who are full of
disbelief and cynicism and skepticism.
They have the hard heart of a sinful life.
The birds are all the reasons and excuses that Satan sends
to prevent these people from believing.
I see the hard path at funerals.
When preaching a funeral,
people are listening to the word. You're talking about
everybody dies and then there's a judgment and a resurrection,
and even though the dead body
is right there in the room with all of us, cannot be denied,
people are looking at their watch, they're checking their e-mail.
I tell the congregation, whether it's Marty or me or any other preacher,
when I'm up there preaching, you all see me, but I see you.
I also see you checking your phones, talking to each other, yakking about
something else or whatever.
And I see that at funerals sometimes.
It's like I'm throwing the word out there and I can see it just bouncing.
It's just coming back to me.
They think the word is not inspired or it's all exaggeration just to frighten people.
Even some preachers don't believe in it. People are saying,
these are the excuses they make, the hardness of their hearts.
Christians are hypocrites. If I believe this will
interfere with my favorite pastime, which happens to be sinful.
The net result is that the word produces absolutely nothing except
a faint recollection that it landed on the conscious mind just
for a moment before being snatched away.
I mean I've done funerals were the person who died, they say they died of lung disease but what
they actually died of was 50 years of smoking.
And everybody knows it.
And yet, especially when you're doing like the burial, you're out at the
cemetery and there's always a little service there, grave site,
call it a grave site service and as soon as it's over,
everybody breaks up, they've got the body in the ground and everybody lights up.
It's like come on people.
So that's the hard soil. The imagery of the birds picking up the seeds,
Satan picking up the seeds, giving all kinds of excuses not to believe, not to take a step. OK?
The next soil is the rocky soil. Verse 20. He says, "The one on whom
seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and
immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself,
but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word,
immediately he falls away."
So this is the layer of warm soil
with hard rock underneath. This is the person who receives, meaning he understands, and
quickly shows a lot of promise in the word.
We know the type, enthusiastic at first, ready to join in, knows the plan,
encourages other people to come to Christ.
Plants need the sun and the heat to grow. In the same way, Christians need the
heat of trials and struggle to grow in Christ as well.
So this person being referred to here, this person's hard
heart is never dealt with and not seen at first.
It could be basic sinfulness, pride, whatever it is.
Anyways, when the word begins to force this person to
deal with their issues they immediately disappear.
I remember at a gospel meeting where a young girl
came forward and requested to be baptized and she was young,
she was 15 or 16, something like that, and we felt that we needed to speak to her mother,
she was a single mom I think,
just to talk about this. And her mother was interested as well. And so we had some
Bible studies with both of them. They were both interested, but in the
end the mom refused to
be baptized, refused to become a Christian. And I gently
prodded her a little bit. Is there a reason, a main reason why?
Because it's the craziest reasons why people won't be baptized. Sometimes people will
hold off on being baptized because they are embarrassed
to get their hair wet in front of people. Sounds crazy.
They love the Lord and this and that but if they're so shy, they're so embarrassed, that they... and when you
tell them that you don't have to do that in front of people it can just be me and
you and your husband. We can just be your family. Oh there's a relief there.
So I ask this woman, is there a reason to be
quite honest? I have a boyfriend and I spend the weekend, every weekend with him.
And I realize that if I become a Christian that's going to have to change.
And I don't want to change that. We've got a good thing going.
And I don't want to scare him away. And that was her reason and she stuck with it and
brought her daughter with her.
So, yes, enthusiastic at first about heaven and
forgiveness and sin. She was among Christians who acted
properly and acted lovingly towards her.
Yeah, I want a piece of that. That's better than my life. That's better then the people I hang around with.
Yes. Except when it came to giving up sin.
Grew up very fast.
The moment a little heat was applied fell away, very quickly.
The third one. I got to move here.
The thorny soil. "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns,
this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and he deceitfulness of wealth choked
the word, and it becomes unfruitful." So here the plant dies
but the death is slow, slow death, unlike the seed in the rocky ground.
It takes a while for the weeds and the thorns to completely choke the good plant.
Jesus describes the thorns in this man's heart or soil,
as being two in particular. One, worry of the world.
Each generation has its things to worry about.
That's normal. This person in the parable allows these
worries to overcome his life in the kingdom.
Unfortunately, some people invest more of their emotional energy and
concern over worldly things than concern and involvement
in the kingdom. And then he talks about the
deceitfulness of riches. The world and its wealth and attractions seduce a
person away again, from the kingdom. We talk about Demas in the New Testament.
And again, he is not saying that these people are really terrible sinners,
thieves, murderers, adulterers. No.
They're just folks. But they just let the worry of life just...
And again it doesn't say
the worry of life just takes them out like just in one shot.
No, eventually it just extinguishes faith
like a flame. It just extinguishes it. The worry of the world. The rat
race to get ahead.
Many Christians they start well at first and then they become
distracted. And finally pulled completely away from Christ.
Why? Too busy, too stressed, too involved,
too many problems, too much money, or too little money, too many toys, too many bad habits,
too many unbelieving friends.
For these people the word has no impact, no challenge, no authority, no comfort,
no inspiration any more.
And then he talks about the good soil. "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this
is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings
forth, some hundred fold, some sixty, and some thirty."
The good soil, the good heart is described as being one that
hears and understands, it hears with the ears and the heart.
Understands the primary and secondary meaning of the parables. Ready to
believe. And obey the words of Christ.
So Jesus says this heart is going to produce the harvest where each seed
will produce differently. We're stronger in
some parts of our spiritual life and service than in other parts. That's what this is talking about.
It's not a judgment. Some people say, oh I'm with 30 fold. I guess I'm not good enough.
No. It's the idea that we have different gifts.
So some have the ability, perhaps the interest to teach, others
have the ability to see to those who are ill and who need help.
Everybody has a different... Everybody's responsible for
everything, but not everybody is good at everything.
So thirty fold, sixty fold, that's how that works.
So the important thing is that unlike the other soils, there is a
harvest and it is plentiful. All right. So let me just summarize this little bit here.
From this parable we glean several more pieces of information for the puzzle.
We said we're putting together a puzzle, what is the kingdom? So first of all the kingdom is
planted in the heart.
This is where the growth and the perception of the kingdom is, in a person's heart,
his thoughts, his/her will, desire. Another piece, the
kingdom is planted by the word of God, by means of the word.
Again, why do we have Wednesday Church? Why do we have Sunday night church? Why do we have Bible class?
Why not just... everybody says communion is the most important thing. Why don't we just come at 11 o'clock,
have a prayer, take communion, have a closing prayer and go home.
We'd be doing the most
important thing, honoring Jesus, making a witness of our faith. Yeah we would
be doing that and sometimes isn't that what we do? Sometimes we're traveling or work,
we just have time to take communion.
But when we do that, what are we not doing? Well, we're not feeding on the word.
The word is not being planted in us. So if the word is planted in
us once a week through the sermon, that's good. But how about if
the word is planted in us in the adult Bible class and then... that's even
better and Sunday night and Wednesday and and my daily Bible reading. Yeah
feed on the word all.... Listen. Whatever you sow into you,
you will have a harvest.
Look at it that way. Whatever you sow into you that will produce a
harvest eventually. Number three, the kingdom
can be destroyed by total disbelief and rejection or by refusal
to persevere with Jesus or by too great a concern over worldly matters
and worldly riches. Like I said on Sunday again, if you don't believe that take a look around. If you've been here
10 years, bring your 10 year old directory with you and go through the pictures.
Yes, some brothers and sisters have passed on. Yes, and some have moved
somewhere, but a lot of those faces are still around, still alive, still live
near the quote building, but they're not here anymore.
So yes, the kingdom can be destroyed. Not the kingdom of God on Earth. The Kingdom
inside of me can be destroyed.
Number four, the kingdom grows at different rates and different people.
Some mature quickly.
And they bear much fruit. Others take a long time to grow. Others are slow in progressing.
All of which alters their ability to give and serve and consequently
affects the maturity. If you only became a Christian when you were fifty seven years old then
obviously... and you die when you're 70. Well you've had that much
time to serve. Somebody else was baptized at camp when they were 12
and then never look back,
well that person has had a much longer time to serve. So obviously he's going to have a
greater, greater harvest.
In the end there is always a harvest however. And then number
five, the kingdom can be missed. The Kingdom can be
missed. It can remain unseen by many people.
When you try and try and explain and teach over and over again don't feel bad
if some people just don't get it or they don't want to get it.
Don't beat yourself up over that. Don't blame yourself.
Jesus said that three of the four soil's would not have a harvest.
Have you ever thought of that?
People rejected Jesus. The one who spoke the parables and died for their sins
so don't be disappointed if certain ones do not hear and understand and respond to
you, the sinner. Because they're still hard and
rocky and thorny soils that exist in abundance today.
Feel guilty if you don't share the word with someone that could use it.
But if you've shared it and lived it and they still don't come around, that's on them.
Not on you. All right so some more ideas about the kingdom that we're
putting together. We'll continue with these agriculture type of parables in the next lesson.