Some of the deep truths of God are presented so simply in Scripture that we often fail to appreciate their significance. We read of our Lord’s parable of the sower, how he would use a graphic illustration and also give a detailed explanation to his inquiring disciples.
There are three elements in this parable: the sower, the seed, and the ground. Its importance was marked enough that the first three Gospels included it.
Christ told his disciples that the sower is the preacher, the seed the gospel message, while the types of ground represent four kinds of hearts which hear the gospel message but react to it in different ways.
There are many lessons we can find in this parable.
The first is that man’s eternal destiny is at stake. For this reason the work of the sower is of the greatest importance.
In these days when there is a new philosophy of Christian vocation it is important to remember that while a Christian can serve and honor God in any calling consistent with the Christian faith, the Christian ministry does stand apart by virtue of its primary concern with man’s eternal destiny.
The apostle Paul lays great stress on the importance of preaching. He tells us that “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” And he goes on to say: “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
That which he preached he affirmed to be: “… the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Paul, amplifying the ministry of the preacher, goes on to say: “How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”
It is therefore obvious that the sowing of the seed—the preaching of the Gospel—is the greatest task to which man can be called.
Secondly, with the importance of preaching there runs an equally compelling imperative: the message to be preached.
Our Lord tells us that the seed is the message of God, and the Scripture leaves us no room to speculate as to that message—it is God’s redemptive act in Christ, a redemption necessary for man’s salvation and accomplished in but one way.
Paul compresses this in a few sentences: “… I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you … how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.”
Unless this message has been given, unless this seed has been sown, the gospel has not been preached, nor is there any substitute which can bring forth fruit to life eternal.
The third lesson in this parable is that men’s hearts vary and because of this you and I who hear the gospel message need to take warning. In fact there are four warnings to be found here.
Beware of Satan. Probably there is no time he is more active than when the Gospel is being preached. Behind those roving thoughts, wandering imaginations, listless minds, dull memories, sleepy eyes, fidgety nerves, weary bodies, and distracted attention, there rests the malignant activity of the enemy of souls—the one who fears and hates the gospel message.
Beware of temporary impressions or emotions. The seed falling on rocky ground had no permanent fruition. So too, when our hearing of the Gospel results solely in fleeting impressions and emotions there will be no deep and abiding work in our hearts and lives.
Let the scorching heat of persecution or temptation come, and the little bit of superficial religion we have withers and vanishes away. We are prone to confuse our delight in the words of some favorite preacher with a work which the Holy Spirit does in our hearts.
Beware of the cares of this world. Our hearts may be like thorny ground. We hear the Gospel and give assent to it—then other things come between us and God.
The “cares of this world” are on every hand—frustrations, disappointments, sorrows, and problems. All conspire to claim our attention and to depress us. Instead of looking upward and outward to God, we look around us and within.
The “deceitfulness of riches” is a danger, even to the many who have little of this world’s goods. All of us can find ourselves putting money and things first and forgetting our Lord’s command to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.”
The “pleasures of this life” are a challenge to every child of God. Recreation and amusements have their rightful place. But the world has so many allurements, so many things to attract, that when they assume a priority they do not deserve, the soul withers and dies.
Finally, beware of being content with any concept of Christianity that does not bring forth fruit in our lives.
One of the tragedies of every generation is the separation that people make between faith and action in Christian profession.
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The “good ground” represents the heart in which the gospel message takes deep root and brings forth fruit for the glory of God. Christianity is not only the salvation of the soul through faith in Christ; it is also the transforming of individuals by the Lord of life.
It is the fruit of a redeemed life that commends the Gospel we profess. Philosophical arguments may be raised against Christianity, but there is little argument against a sinner transformed by the power of the living Christ.
These things being true, how carefully we should value the calling and privilege of preaching the Gospel. How certain we must be that we preach the Gospel and not another gospel, and how carefully we should heed our own hearts as we hear and react to the message of eternal life!
This parable of the sower carries its warnings, but it also carries a glorious hope, for wherever the Gospel is preached there will be results. This will not be due to the eloquence, personality, or brilliance of the sower but the seed which he sows.
We also know that it is the Holy Spirit who prepares the hearts of men for the gospel seed and then waters that seed to bring forth fruit for eternity.
Our Lord—the greatest preacher who ever lived—preached and taught and only a minority believed and followed him.
Our responsibility, therefore, is the sowing of the good seed. We can safely leave the harvest to Him.
L. NELSON BELL
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