"The Sower, the Seed, and You"

Hi there, this is long Solomon and I like to welcome you to our program today. You know it's a tremendous honor the God's given us to be on stations all around the nation bringing the truths of God's word as it is uncompromising and straightforward and I'm so glad you tuned in to listen and be part of that. Thanks again for your support and your generosity that keeps us on the radio and now let's get to the word of God. When you go out and try to share Jesus Christ with the you never know how it's going to turn out.

But Jesus is going to talk to us about that this morning in the Bible. He's going to talk to us about how different people react in different ways to the message of Jesus Christ and on the ask you as you go along with me this morning to do something that takes a lot of courage. I hope you're up to it. I think you are. I'm going to ask you as we got way through this not only to talk about and think about how other people respond to Jesus Christ but how you do it takes a lot of courage to do some healthy self-examination, but I'm in ask you to do it. So let's take a look first for what a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, Jesus told this parable. Now remember that what's going on here Jesus is appeared and presented himself as the Messiah of Israel to the nation. The rabbis have rejected in the religious leaders have completely disassociated themselves with him. They thrown them out of the synagogue. After preaching the streets. Now the people of come to him and then they'd not come to them. They followed him and then they change their mind, their fickle one way, then fickle the other way. He says something like, then the following is a something on like they all go away.

The Romans haven't been thrown out. No army of liberation has arisen me while his disciples are saying to themselves why is always happening on the we thought. When the Messiah came, the whole nation would rally to him and and everybody would believe that even there would be this enormous groundswell of support and is not happening on it while people were acting the way they are.

Jesus tells this parable to help his disciples understand why people react to him the way they do. But it's also great for us to know is we go out there and try to talk to people that she's the 45th.

He's a sower went out, a farmer went out to sow his seed in those days farmers and used tractors. They use bags of seed around her neck and what they would do was they would walk along and they would reach in the bag and they would toss their seat out in the sea would fly all over everywhere landing on all different kinds of ground in Jesus now goes on to describe the different kinds of ground. The seed might fall on.

First of all, he says there was hard soil verse five and as he was scattering the seed. Some fell along the pathway and it was trampled on and the birds of the air, aided up in Palestine, there were narrow strips of unplowed land three or 4 feet wide that ran between the fields and dissected them in these little path at the farmers would use to get in and out of the field so they didn't trample all over the crops well over the years. Of course all of that foot traffic beat that dirt down hard and after a while it became like asphalt like concrete as you would proceed. See landing on that didn't have a chance to sprout with like landing on the road and the birds it would often follow the farmers he went to the fuel just come along. Just gobble it up the hard soil. Second, Jesus said their shallow soil verse six. Some fell on rock and when it came up when it sprouted the plants withered because they didn't have any moisture they salons of the make sense here. If the sea landed on a rock. It wouldn't sprout things don't sprout on rocks. Well, that's right.

But what Jesus is talking about.

He makes a little clear in Matthew's gospel when he tells the parable he says there it fell on rocky ground where there wasn't much soil there wasn't much depth of soil you see in Palestine there are places where you have an inch or two of soil lying on top of solid bedrock in this what Jesus is talking about in the seed that fell there would sprout very quickly and it would begin to grow, but as the summer wore on and the ground began to dry up and the sun began to beat down on it will try to send its roots down deeper to get moisture, but one or 2 inches down is solid rock and is no place for the roots to go so when they get there and they can't go anywhere they can't get any moisture they burn up in the sun and they with her and they died. This would Jesus talk about shallow soil. There's a little bit of dirt there, but not enough to support life.

The third soil is contaminated soil verse seven.

Other seed fell on thorns which grew up along with the seed and choked off the plant. This is soil that looks good. Outwardly, it's deep and it's soft but hidden in the soil are the seeds of all kinds of weed and the farmer see when it hits the soil. It sprouted begins to grow everything looks great for a while, but the sun warms the ground and all these other seeds. All these other weeds and thistles and thorns also sprout up and before long they overtake to see they overcrowd the seed. The seed to get the moisture it needs the seed can't get the nutrients it needs and they choke the seed off the docks. Finally, Jesus says, verse eight, is good soil.

Still other seed fell on good soil and it came up and yielded a crop, 100 times more than what was sown.

This is soil that soft enough to take the seed and it's not hard soil and this is soil that's deep enough to allow the seed to root. It's not shallow soil. And this is a soil that is clean enough to allow the seed to prosper. It's not contaminated soil so the seed first, the life and it bears all kinds of fruit and then Jesus in this parable by saying verse eight he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

In other words, Jesus said if you can get my drift and get it done at the end of the parable and you were so many things in the Bible.

Your freedom and you cannot go does not mean and a lot of times there's not a whole lot right there to help you try reading the book of Revelation.

Sometime in gold what Rose is talking about what I like here is a Jesus interprets the parable force. He leaves the no doubt whatsoever as to what this parable mean. So let's go to verse 11. This Jesus says is the meaning of the parable Fran I don't care what you think. This parable means or what. I think this parable means there is no room for what you think of what I think Jesus is going to tell us exactly what he means by the parable. And here we go. He says, verse 11. The seed is the word of God. We know that the seed is the word of God the Word of God. Here Jesus means by that. The message that he is the Messiah of Israel.

The message that he paid for our sins on the cross. The message that God will forgive the sins of anyone who will rely upon what Jesus did on the cross with them, not their own works, not their own effort, not their own religious activities. But the blood of Jesus Christ shut on the cross to pay for their sins rely on that. And God will forgive your sins give you eternal life.

This is the message Jesus is. That's the seed that that's the seed what's the main point of the parable carefully. The main point of the parable is that the condition of a person's heart there soil determines how they will respond to the message of Jesus Christ to see. In other words, the variable here is not the quality of the seed any time the seed hits good soil, it grows, so the issue here is not whether the sea is good or not it's good, nor is the issue here, the skill of the sower here. This guy could've taken his little boy out of his little girl out let them proceed all over everywhere and any time that seated good soil is going to grow so the issue here is not how skillful the sower is or how good the seed is that's not the variable the variable is the condition of the soil that it lands on and the point is what people do with Jesus Christ when they hear about him has everything to do with the condition of their hearts. The condition of their soil. Jesus is therefore kinds of soil. The word of God encounters when you spread it and we want to walk through it but let me just say to you when you go out to talk to people about Jesus Christ. Everybody you meet is going to fall in one of these four categories in the success of the seed depends upon the condition of the soil. You can be a really lousy sower. I mean you can know John 316, and one of the verse of Scripture, but it's amazing you. So the seed it hits good soil will grow because remember, it's not the skill of the sower and is not the condition of the seed of the condition of the school is look at the source. Okay here we go.

First of all there's hard soil. Jesus says in verse 12. Those along the path are the ones who hear and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart so they cannot believe and be saved. This is hard soil. This represents the hardhearted person the seed of the word of God does not penetrate this person's heart at all the surfaces too hard is like spiritual asphalt. These people are people like that dirt that was beaten down in the hard concrete in between the wheat field and when this person hears the message of Jesus Christ. For a moment it lies on the surface of their heart.

Since the ground is never been plowed by the Holy Spirit. Satan comes along and he snatches that seed away and it never does anything a person hears the word of God like this with this, hearts, and Satan comes along and he distracts them or get them busy to get them thinking about something else we take some someplace else and I mean is just gone.

Nothing happens to it and we've all met people like this heavenly people have zero spiritual interest. I mean, you try to talk to about the Lord and later ignore you or they walk away or they turn the television up louder or they walk into the other room or they change the subject. They just don't want to hear it. We got people in our office is like that with the people in our neighborhoods like that. We got people that we work with and we live with and people that were related to her just like this. They have zero spiritual interest in their proud of the hard soil heart heart. Then Jesus said there is a shallow soil in verse 13 he says those who are like the one with the little bit soil and then the bedrock they are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they don't have any place for the route to go. And so they believe for a while but in the time of testing. They fall away. Now this is a person who has a certain outer sentiment for Jesus Christ a certain sympathy with Jesus Christ.

I mean they're not against God, like God. God's all right church is all right Christianity is okay will come to church a little bit of milk. I hang around and do the Christian thing about the Bible in their home. But even though they got an outer sentimentality for Jesus Christ right under the surface. Is this in Norma's rock bed of sales right below the surface. These are people who've never allow that rock bed of self to be smashed and broken up by the spirit of God, these are people who never come to the end of their own resources who've never got their self resources and their self-sufficiency shattered.

These are people who never had to turn to God in brokenness and in contrition. They got little sentimentality for Christ, but they're still running their life and they got the whole thing under control with their own resources and their own sufficiency and when they're first exposed to Jesus Christ. They may be openly receptive. They need to go.

While this is pretty cool and the seed looks like it's going to sprout up and we say wow that's cool. Look at this this person is really coming to know Christ.

But as soon as the sun begins to beat down on it getting hot with the pressures of real Christianity. This person withers away in a year later you can find there gone we say they lost their salvation though they didn't. They never had.

Would you notice in this parable there's only one soil that ever bears fruit and that's the only one that ever really knows Christ. The other three soils never bear any fruit and that's the mark in the Bible of a real Christian fruit.

We say this person was a Christian, they backslid no they didn't. They were never really a Christian to start with because that rock bed of self-sufficiency and that rock bed of self-reliance was never broken up by the jackhammer of the spirit of God, so that the seed could take root and so it could grow it was no place for the seed to go folks. I prayed with the sinners prayer with people like this and I baptize people like this and I've married people like this and I discipled people like this and I poured our upon our upon our into people like this, only to see them disappear, and six months later you can find someone has it make you feel when that happens it makes me feel terrible I feel awful, which is one of the reasons I'm so glad Jesus gives us this information because it helps me understand that the seed has not failed just because it meets this kind of soil and that as a seller I didn't fail because I met this kind of soil. The problem was of the sower and the problem wasn't the seed. The problem was the soil third soil contaminated soil verse 14.

The seed that fell among the thorns stands for those who here but as they go on their way. They are choked by life's worries and life's riches and life measures, and they do not mature. In Matthew 13 when Jesus tells the parable he says that these things choke off the seed and it is on fruitful again.

No fruit. My get some leaves here no fruit. Now, just like Saul number two things look promising at first for this person, but time begins to show that the soil is contaminated and Jesus tells us what the contaminant is its wife's worries and life's riches and life's pleasures. What we have here is what the Bible calls a double minded person that is we have here a person who wants to please God and wants to serve God and wants to let their life count for God, but a person wants to hold onto the things of this world. At the very same time a person is trying to serve two masters. And Jesus said you cannot serve two masters. Jesus said you cannot serve God and the material things of this world, folks. You can't ride two horses. It was driving up from ride one horse. It wants you can't ride two horses. It was and if we want to diagram this person if we were to diagram the good soil, it would look like a person like this with both hands holding onto the hand of Jesus Christ. But if you want to diagram this person.

This person would have one hand holding onto the hand of Jesus Christ and they would have the other hand holding on the things of this world and they would be a person who, no matter how much these two sides pulled at them.

They were determined they were to hold onto both sides and if one side had to give. If this but there's something over here in this world. They are not going to let go friend if you haven't come to the place where Jesus Christ is truly number one in your heart where you're willing to put it all on the altar. No matter what God asked Jesus tells us that your inability to do that. Mine ability to do that will be like a huge spiritual weed in your life that will choke off the life of the seed growing inside of you and our relationship with Jesus Christ can never bear fruit until we get to the place of Jesus Christ as number one. And you know other people in churches all over America this morning just like this. They got all kinds leaves but their army fruit is not all on the altar. Now, finally, good soil, verse 15, but the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and a good heart, hear the word of God and retain it, and by persevering they produce a crop here at last is we finally get some fruit.

Jesus says this is a noble and good heart heart.

It's been fully prepared by the spirit of God is no leaves. There's no rock bed.

There's no hard surface. This dirt is soft and deep and clean and fertile and ready for the seed and then when the seed had I mean you get fruit pal and you get lots of fruit is a longer kind of fruit are we talking about for the kind of fruit. The Bible says is proof of genuine salvation friends in the Bible the proof of salvation is not foliage. It it's Galatians chapter 5 the fruit of the spirit that is in a change character in a change lifestyle, the fruit of genuine salvation is second Corinthians 517 if a person is in Christ, they become a new creature and one of the fruits of a genuine salvation experience with Jesus Christ is that you begin to become a new human being. And there is no explanation for it other than the fact that Jesus Christ came into your life. The fruit of the local the word of God and the fruit of the love to be in prayer and talking to God, the fruit of loving to tell other people about Jesus Christ and having a real desire to do that. This is the kind of that comes with real salvation and this is the climax of all parable Jesus says when we go out to sow the gospel just like those civil rights march organizers back then.

You never know what you going to me you'll come across hard soil and you go away discouraged.

You come across shallow soil and you get all excited because it looks like it's really working in spring up and you'll go when you just kind of dies away and then you come across contaminated soil and you'll invest and you'll invest and you'll invest annually and fast in these people, but don't never let go of the world they just will not let go of the world and finally they to die.

When you begin. The city itself.

Man is it worth it. But Jesus is all yes it is. He said because I promise you, I assure you there is good soil out there. There really is and if you keep sowing enough seed.

He only had it and when you do that feel spring of life, and I mean there will be Mugu fruit all everywhere you want out of baskets to pick up and you watch somebody's life changed so radically that there is no explanation, but Jesus Christ, and it will make all those other soils you had to work your way through worth it to find one piece of good soil out there.

It will make life worth living. May I say to you that you and I living in the 20 century will meet people just like these poor soils. The fact that you might need hard soil or shallow soil contaminated so don't let that discourage you begin to doubt yourself and go because I must not be a very good sewer looking all the soils are running to or even worse, you know the gospel is not really true is not doing anything. Remember, the problem is not with the and the problem is not with the so work the problems with the want the success of the seed depends on the condition of the soil so get out there and so folks know that seed everywhere, and yet I listen hard soil and plant some contaminated soil and some shallow soil, the kind God who hits and how make it all worth now that is the end of the parable, but it leads us to ask the question, so what. In the last couple minutes. God, I'm going to ask you to come along with me and let's do some very healthy self-examination. I hope you got the courage to do it because it takes courage to do it member I said earlier to you that as we so the word of God, we find that not only do we meet one of these four soils and everybody we come across but that everyone of us here is one of these course you're one of these four soils and I want you to leave here this morning asking yourself the question, which one of these four soils in my remember friends every sincere born-again come to know Jesus Christ.

Experience results can you point to a radical transformation of your lifestyle and your values where you can say I used to be like this. But now I'm a completely different person. And the only thing that explains it is the Jesus Christ came in my life. Can you do that fruit can you honestly say you got intimacy with God.

When you get on your knees and you pray, do you sense God's presence and feel his presence, or is it just routine and wrote if you really feel his presence in this intimacy there. That's fruits. Can you say you got a love for the word of God or when you pick it up. If you go to talk about that's born people really know Christ and the Bible comes alive is the joy in your Christian experience. I mean, are you enjoying this thing called being a Christian or is it more of a duty or creed or loyalty or an allegiance or habit that you really come to know Christ and I'm telling you things change is not a habit of thought, an allegiance is not created is not a loyalty.

There is a joy in a reality that comes in your life because you've met Almighty God. Is there a passion in your life to tell other people about Christ. If you really have met Jesus. There will be or is it, like a man religions a private thing I'm neglected embarrassed myself make a fool out of myself talking people that Jesus Christ is there fruits receptor even if your Christian. Are you willing to turn God loose to plow your life and get those remnants of soils one, two and three out so God can use you and bear more fruit with you. If so, tell us to come over and pray heavenly father. Ours is not a culture that encourages much healthy self-examination when it comes to these kinds of issues we hustle bustle. We we were on was so busy, so distracted and part of the reason we don't do much of this is because it just takes too much courage to really confront ourselves for what we really are. We just we just rather skim along the surface Lord not have to deal with it, but I thank you today that your word is demanding from us and ask a willingness to take a hard look at where we stand.

Lord Jesus, I pray that you would assist us with your spirit. May he give us the wisdom and the insight we need to really assess our lives accurately help us not fool ourselves for one of the first three kinds of soil.

If we got all, leaves but no fruit helps be honest enough to admit that we've never really had this kind of life altering experience with Jesus Christ that we hear people talk about help us to come to you Lord to to do the change in our soil that needs to be done so we can even for those of us who are Christians bring us to the place where were serious about rooting out of our lives. The remnants of these first three kinds of soil.

We might really see you bear much fruit to our lives remind us, Lord Jesus, were not here to enjoy creature comforts are here to serve the living God. Let our lives count for him and as we get serious about this as a church family. May we see you use us to reach many many people in a real and genuine way for Jesus Christ right here in this community. Thank you for talking to our hearts today. Lord, help us not be like hearts will help us to listen and do what needs to be done. We pray in Jesus name amen maintenance I went with Dr. Lon Solomon said, when is an outrage and online, found in ministering to listen to today's message, or for more information visit our website. Lon Solomon ministries.org.

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