ONE MESSAGE YOU CANNOT AFFORD TO IGNORE

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Intro:

     The truths that Jesus reveals in this parable are life-altering if they are heard and heeded. They teach a truth so powerful that they cannot get ignored. I want us to look into these verses today and deliver the One Message You Cannot Afford To Ignore. Let’s look into the Parable of the Sower today; as we do, prepare to meet yourself in these words. Let’s hear, heed and honor the message Jesus wants to teach us today.

  I.THE TASK OF THE SOWER

A.  The Sower’s Identity – In the parable, the sower is a farmer broadcasting seed into his fields.

According to Jesus and His interpretation of this parable in Mark 4:14, the “sower sows the word” of God. The sower in the parable is Jesus and the Gospel. A moment of preaching is a moment of sowing the seed, so I am sowing right now.

B.  The Sower’s Intentions – He sows because he ultimately desires to reap a harvest, and he casts his seed with the expectation of much more in return. The sower has one goal: to get his seed into the ground so the harvest can come. That is the intention of the Heavenly Sower and all genuine preachers of the word.

C.  The Sower’s Investment – The farmer must give something away before he can expect to receive anything in return. He takes the precious seed that he saved from the last harvest and casts it into the soil, hoping that it will produce a great harvest. The seed is all the farmer has, and he gives it away, hoping to receive more in return.

           Here is what the Heavenly Sower did. Jesus gave His all so that there might be Gospel seed to cast into the soil of the human heart. He died on the cross and rose again, literally giving His all.

Jesus gave His all for you and me so that we might have a Gospel to believe, Isa. 53:4-6, and that you might produce fruit for the glory of the Lord, Rom. 7:4.

           We preach about a gift of salvation through Jesus Christ at this church, John 6:37; Acts 16:31; John 6:47. However, while salvation may be free, it certainly was not cheap! It cost the glory of Heaven His life on the cross.

He gave all that He had to give us a soul-saving, life-changing Gospel to preach and believe!

 II.THE TREASURE OF THE SEED

(Ill. In Luke 8:11, Jesus identifies the seed as the “Word of God.” When the farmer walked into his field with his seed bag, he held in his hand a genuine treasure. He cast that treasure to the soil, hoping it would accomplish his desires.

     Two thousand years ago, Jesus walked into this world with a treasure. He came to give men the Gospel of grace. When Jesus cast the seed of the Gospel into the shifting winds of this world, He did so with the sure knowledge that it would accomplish His purposes ultimately, Isa. 55:11.

     Notice the treasure of the seed.)

A.  It Holds Great Power – Life – Before the seed falls on the soil, the soil is devoid of life, and it lies there barren and empty. But, when the seed falls onto good soil and germinates, it always brings life to something that before was dead. So it is with the Gospel of grace! It brings life to the dead hearts of those lost in their sins, Eph. 2:1-5. 

B.  It Holds Great Promise  – More – Every seed that the sower sowed had the potential to produce much more seed.  Verse 8 and 23 bear this out, and one tiny seed had the potential to multiply itself 3000%, 6000%, and even 10000%.

Those of you who saw a quash seed produce a plant that yields several fully grown squashes, each containing dozens, if not hundreds, of new seeds. Plant one corn seed and watch it produce a plant that will yield several ears, each containing many rows of fresh seeds. 

Such is the promise in the seed of the Gospel of grace. When it is sown in a ready heart, it will germinate and reproduce itself repeatedly. 

III.THE TESTIMONY OF THE SOILS

A. v. 4, 19

The Compacted Soil – The “wayside” refers to the narrow footpaths that ran beside and through the fields. These are the roads of those days. And the soil is as hard as concrete beneath the feet of the travelers and animals. When the seed fell on the footpath, it could not penetrate the soil, and it remained there in the open, only to be devoured by the fowls of the air. It speaks of the person who hears the Gospel but doesn’t “understand it“. That is, they cannot make the connection between the claims of the Gospel and their own life. They hear the Gospel and dismiss it as foolishness, 1 Cor. 1:18. When this happens, the devil and his minions will snatch away the Gospel seed.

B. v. 5-6, 20-21

The Crippled Soil – These stony places are common in Palestine.

Often there will be an outcropping of limestone rock covered by a thin layer of topsoil. The ground looks excellent and productive, and the seed cast here will germinate and quickly spring up into a good plant. But, because there is no soil depth, as soon as the sun beats down on the tender plant, it withers and dies without producing any fruit.

           The kind of soil here speaks of the heart that makes an emotional response to the presentation of the Gospel. Perhaps they came to an altar because a friend so. Or only heard a shallow presentation of the Gospel that presents physical benefits without its costs. He knows nothing about dying to self. Whatever happened, they were excited, active, and accepted as the real deal. But because they have no depth to their profession, they fall away when the persecutions and tribulations associated with knowing Jesus arise. 

 They begin to have problems with church attendance, prayer, and Bible reading. They shrink away from the radical claims of Christ and the cross, Matt. 16:24. They become offended when they are mocked, ridiculed, laughed at, or persecuted. These people make a profession, often running well for a time, and then wind up right back in the world. 

C. v. 7, 22

The Crowded Soil – This soil looks ready to get sown, but the living roots and seeds of thorns and weeds are underneath the surface. When the seed falls here, it also springs to life quickly and gives every indication that a good harvest will follow. However, the same ground produces the thorns and weeds already there, soon choking out the tender plant. This plant withers and dies without producing any fruit at all. The person here combined spirituality and worldliness. The seed of the Gospel cannot survive to produce fruit in a heart filled with other things. Either the seed will have the ground, or sin will have the ground, and both cannot coexist.  Jesus said it was the cares of the world and the quest for earthly riches that spelt disaster for this kind of soil. 

The Choice Soil – Finally, some seeds fell onto the good ground.

This ground had been worked and prepared, and it had been plowed and tilled, and it was ready to receive the seed when it came. The seed germinated within the heart of the soil, and the plant grew and produced fruit that brought honor and gains to the farmer.

The person here loves fellowship, God’s word, prayer, and observed deep and rich morning devotion every day (Psalm 1:1-3). This heart is that picture of a soul that can genuinely call itself saved and productive!

   What kind of fruit is produced in the good soil of a prepared heart?

• Sanctification – Becoming like Him-

          Rom.6:22; Phil. 1:11; Col. 1:10.

• Spirituality – Behave like Him – Gal. 5:22-23.
• Souls – Burdened like Him – Rom. 1:13.

Conc: As we have moved through this passage, we have seen one sower sow seeds into four different types of soil. The seed only brought forth fruit in one of those soils. The other soils were bad, and nothing of value came from the seed being planted in them. According to Jesus, the seed is the Gospel, and the soil is the human heart. If you were, to be honest, today, which of these four soils is your heart? Is your heart hard and closed off to God?