Sower, Seed, and the Soil

      “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free.”      Luke 4:18  NLT

       Why teach in parables?  This being Jesus’ first parable, the disciples wondered the same thing.  Jesus says there are two reasons; 1) to reveal the truth to those who have accepted Him, 2) to conceal the truth from those who have rejected His message.  It opened a window of common understanding for everyone to hear and accept His message.

Read:  Matthew 13:1-23        Mark 4:1-20;   Luke 8:4-15

I.  v19,20  What’s The Problem?

*  the seed is the Word of God-  Luke 8:11

*  It’s inspired, perfect and infallible

            1 Peter 1:23  It lives forever

            Psalms 126:5,6  It’s a precious, viable seed

*  so, there’s no problem with the “seed”

II.  v3, 37  Is There A Problem With The Sower?

*  Jesus is the sower-  we know He knew how to do it right

            1 Corinthians 3:9  we also are sowers of the Word with Him

*  Farmers (sowers) plant plenty of seed

*  we, like Jesus, can not let seed planting opportunities get by us

*  sow the seed plentifully, passionately and patiently

*  there is no problem with the sower or the seed- it must be the soil

III.  v5-8;19-23  The Human Heart Is The Soil      

Notice: Jesus says there are four kinds of “soil”

            a)  the indifferent, hardened soil is  “by the wayside”

*  God can break up that soil

            b)  the impulsive heart is “stony ground”

*  the seed doesn’t get very deep-  it has no root system, therefore

*  it comes up, dries out, withers and dies

            c)  the impure heart is “in thorny places”

*  choked out by the influences of life-    materialism and worldliness

            d)  the fertile receptive heart is “the good ground”

*  broken up, cultivated, and prepared to receive the seed

*  hearts waiting to hear and understand the Word