PARABLE OF THE SOWER
Luke 8:18
18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
(KJV)
There are two key words that we are going to look at and the words are heed and hear.
The word heed means to consider, to weigh carefully, and the word hear means to understand.
The writer was stating that we should consider or weigh carefully how we understand. This is important because the devil knows that there is a blessing in understanding.
Matt 13:1-10
1 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;
4 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.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
(Who hath ears to understand, let him understand.)
10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
A parable is an earthly story that brings about a spiritual principle.
Matt 13:11
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.
(KJV)
A parable will separate the sincere from those that are not, because those that are sincere will understand and the others will not.
Matt 13:16-18
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.
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
(KJV)
The key to the parable of the sower is understanding.
WAYSIDE
Matt 13:19
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.
(KJV)
The key words in the above scripture are understandeth, catcheth and heart.
Understandeth means to set or to join together in the mind. Catcheth means to snatch out or to snatch away. Heart means the thoughts or feeling of the mind.
When a person hears the word of God and does not understand what they are hearing, the devil comes and snatches out the word that was sown in the thought (mind) process.
This is not easy as it sounds. Notice the word is sown in the heart (mind, thought process).
In order for the devil to snatch the word of God out, the person(s) must give up on seeking understanding.
When the word of God is in our thought process, God will bring the word back to our mind from time to time, why? To provoke us to seek understanding, because there is a blessing in understanding God’s word.
When we give up on trying to understand God’s word, this is when the devil will snatch the word of God out of our heart. You must make up your mind, I refuse to be the way side seed! I will seek understanding!
James 1:21-25
21 Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
The word of God will point out things in our life that we need to do, but it is up to us if we will obey or not.
25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-- he will be blessed in what he does.
(NIV)
Luke 8:11-12
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
(KJV)
STONY
Matt 13:20-21
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.
(KJV)
This person here received the word immediately with joy, and the word began to produce some changes in their life. Because the changes were based mostly on emotional response, the word did not take root within the individual. The person is offended because of pressure and suffering, which caused him to backslide.
This is a tactic that the devil uses, if he can’t get you at the wayside seed, he will try with the stony places. The TLB version said it like this:
Matt 13:20-21
20 The shallow, rocky soil represents the heart of a man who hears the message and receives it with real joy,
21 but he doesn't have much depth in his life, and the seeds don't root very deeply, and after a while when trouble comes, or persecution begins because of his beliefs, his enthusiasm fades, and he drops out.
(TLB)
You must refuse to be the stony place and not give in to the pressure and suffering because of the word.
1 Pet 5:7-10
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9 Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect(Complete), stablish(Firm, stable), strengthen, settle(Unmoveable) you.
(KJV)
Matt 10:22
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
(KJV)
Matt 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
(KJV)
John 15:18
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
(KJV)
2 Tim 3:12
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
(KJV)
Rom 8:35
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
(KJV)
Luke 8:13
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
(KJV)
THORNS
Matt 13:22
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.
(KJV)
If you make it pass the wayside and the stony places, the most difficult one awaits you, that is the thorns.
On this particular ground, a person hears the word and understands it and their mind is made up to do something about it. But the adversary out of nowhere brings in the cares of life (bills are due, the baby is sick, working long hours to make ends meet, etc.…). The deceitfulness of riches (different types of money making schemes to draw away your time), squeeze the word of God out, and you become unfruitful.
Beware when you make up your mind to do a work for God, the cares of life are coming, but don’t let it stop you. This is a trick of the devil.
1 Tim 6:10-19
10 For the love of money is the first step toward all kinds of sin. Some people have even turned away from God because of their love for it, and as a result have pierced themselves with many sorrows.
11 O Timothy, you are God's man. Run from all these evil things, and work instead at what is right and good, learning to trust him and love others and to be patient and gentle.
12 Fight on for God. Hold tightly to the eternal life that God has given you and that you have confessed with such a ringing confession before many witnesses.
13 I command you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a fearless testimony before Pontius Pilate,
14 that you fulfill all he has told you to do so that no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
15 For in due season Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only Almighty God, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
16 who alone can never die, who lives in light so terrible that no human being can approach him. No mere man has ever seen him nor ever will. Unto him be honor and everlasting power and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
17 Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them.
19 By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven-- it is the only safe investment for eternity! And they will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well.
(TLB)
The deceitfulness of riches caused Judas to betray Jesus.
Matt 26:14-16
14 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests,
15 And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver.
16 And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
(KJV)
Matt 27:1-5
1 When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
2 And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.
3 Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
(KJV)
The deceitfulness of riches caused him to go out and hang himself and lose out with God.
Mark 8:36
36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
(KJV)
Luke 12:15-21
15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness(Greediness): for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
(KJV)
Mark 10:28-30
28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
(KJV)
God makes a promise here, that if we would put him first, he will bless us an hundredfold in this life with persecution, but in the world to come, eternal life.
Matt 6:33
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
(KJV)
Luke 8:14
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
(KJV)
GOOD GROUND
Matt 13:23
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.
(KJV)
John 15:1-8
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 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.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
(KJV)
Luke 8:15
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
(KJV)