A Sower Went Forth To Sow part 2

26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 “The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 “But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

In this little parable we are presented with four elements: the Sower, the Seed, the Soil, and the Harvest.

As we have already seen, every Christian is to be a sower, sharing the Gospel with others. Some are uniquely called to evangelism as ministry, but most of us are simply to share the Gospel as we have opportunity.

And we have already seen that the Seed is the Gospel of Jesus Christ – who Jesus is, what He did, and how we benefit from His work. The Gospel is not how to be happy, or live a fulfilling life. The Gospel is not how the pains of the past can be forgotten, or how to become wealthy. The Gospel is the good news that, although every human being is born guilty and condemned by sin, there is a Savior.

Let’s continue with the other two elements of Jesus’ parable: the Soil, and the Harvest.

The Soil

Quite clearly, the Soil is a person. Earlier in Mark Jesus gave a more detailed parable involving a sower and four different kinds of soil. He then explained what that first parable meant, and tied its meaning to the parables that follow.

Impenetrable

Mark 4:3–4 (NASB95):

3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.”

Mark 4:15 (NASB95):

15 “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.”

The first kind of person is the one who is so hard and impenetrable that there is zero response to the Gospel – none whatsoever. They are so hardened to it, Jesus says, that they are like hard-packed earth. Satan is able to sweep away the truth from them as easily as birds pick up seed.

Impassioned

Mark 4:5–6 (NASB95):

5 “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.”

Mark 4:16–17 (NASB95):

16 “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.”

This second person has a quick, impassioned response to the Gospel, but there is no root, and so there cannot be any fruit. Painful events burn away the Gospel from their lives. It’s sad, because they responded to the Gospel with joy, but it’s joy for its own sake, not joy that they found Christ. No Christianity that treats Jesus as the means to an end is biblical Christianity. As soon as Christ stops making them feel good, they’re off to find something else.

Insincere

Mark 4:7 (NASB95):

7 “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.”

Mark 4:18–19 (NASB95):

18 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

The third person wants to benefit from Jesus, but their faith is insincere. They don’t lean upon Jesus as their all in all. They are happy to have Him part of their lives, like the man who said he was good for God on Sunday, and good for nothing the rest of the week. But their worship of Him is insincere, because they are unwilling to abandon their idols for Christ alone, and so the Gospel remains fruitless in their lives.

Notice that the impenetrable person is completely untouched by the Gospel, and the impassioned person is temporarily touched by the Gospel, but this insincere person might be religious all their life. There is a plant called darnel, and it looks exactly like wheat, except it produces no grain. Jesus used darnel, or tares, as an example of how some who claim to be Christians are not; they look like it outwardly, but like the Pharisees, inwardly are full of death.

This is why we must not fail to share Christ with someone who claims to be a Christian, but whose life is merely moral and religious, and lacks true devotion to the Lord. Could some of these people be true Christians? Sure. They could also be false and still in their sins. Love puts their eternal destiny over their temporary feelings. I promise you that if you witness to someone you think may be unsaved and is actually saved, they will not be angry in the slightest on the day of judgment.

Implanted

Mark 4:8 (NASB95):

8 “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

Mark 4:20 (NASB95):

20 “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

But the fourth kind of person is like good soil. They hear the Gospel, and by the power of the Spirit of God it is planted in their heart and soul and mind.

Their fruit is evident:

· they repent of their sins and dead works;

· the power of Christ gives them hope;

· they know that they are forgiven, cleansed, and at peace with God;

· they are born again, converted, regenerated, so that the old things are gone, and new things have come;

· they love the Lord and His people;

· they look for His return, and long to see others know the joy and peace they have found.

Satan can’t steal the Gospel from these saints because he has no access to their souls.

Pain can’t wither the Gospel because it is deep within them; as Paul says, they may be afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, but they are not crushed, filled with despair, forsaken, or destroyed.

Idols can’t compete with Jesus, because they are so clearly dead and powerless, and Jesus is everything to His people.

What is our part in all of this? It’s an easy question, because it’s the same answer for everyone. I have a Master’s Degree in Ministry. Steve Lawson has a doctorate in theology. My granddaughter, Lucy, is still in first grade. But the answer is the same.

Our part is to share the Gospel. That’s it. It’s the only thing we must do. It’s the only thing we can do. No amount of education changes the Gospel. It was first preached by men who were untaught and uneducated, and doesn’t require advanced knowledge. We simply proclaim Christ.

All the rest depends upon the work of God: the Father who elected those whom He would save, the Son who died to obtain their salvation, and the Spirit who applies it to their lives.

Many are uncomfortable with the lack of response of people they share Christ with. They assume that if they told the story right, used the right words, had the right approach, made it sound attractive, really sold it well, that everyone they speak to would believe. But that’s a lie. People are not innocent victims of bad things; they are rebels and sinners against the Most Holy God. Faced with His Word, even when His Word promises forgiveness and reconciliation, sinners will angrily rebel against Him.

Do you remember what Jesus said?

John 15:20 NASB95

“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

In a sense, evangelism is the litmus test that reveals who belongs to Christ and who doesn’t. Those who do not belong to Him will never keep His Word. Those who belong to Him will, in His time, keep His Word.

And when they do, they are ready for the harvest.

The Harvest

I love it when someone hears the Gospel, and they take it in and think about it, and I can see the process of growth. You know, sometimes people can point to a day and a time when they were made alive in Christ. With others it’s a slower, more subtle process. Our assurance doesn’t come from having a diary entry, but from the ongoing faithfulness of Jesus Christ.

So, when can we expect the harvest in someone’s life?

And here’s the answer: there is no way of knowing.

This week I read an article by Jordan Standridge, a pastor in Virginia. He spent a couple of weeks on a short-term trip to a former communist country in Eastern Europe, and met an elderly man and his daughter.

He writes,

As I entered the first house and sat in the chair to begin, we were told by the father and daughter that they had never spoken to anyone about the Gospel before. The daughter was in her seventies and the father was ninety-nine.

As we talked, it seemed as if the scales were falling from his eyes as the realization of his own sin filled his eyes with tears. It was like talking to the thief on the cross. He simply asked God to forgive him of his sin and give him a new heart.

99 years old, and no one had ever talked to him about the Gospel before. 99 years old, and a new creature in Christ. Does that sound like quick harvest? Yes, but the Spirit of God had been a work in that man’s life. He knew that there was something wrong, and learning about sin put a name to it. He longed for hope, and hearing about Jesus filled him with hope.

On the other hand, it can take years of conversation. One of my seminary professors conducted a survey on evangelism, and learned that the average Christian had ten Gospel conversations before being saved. Those conversations were not usually with the same person, and didn’t happen in a week or two. By the providence of God, the gestation time for the Gospel differs from person to person, and can’t be predicted.

Bringing it Home

As we live in faith and submission to the Lord, we trust that He will bring people across our path who have need of the Gospel. We must be prepared to take advantage of those opportunities; how sad to meet someone in obvious need of salvation, but have nothing to say to them. Be prepared!

We must also understand that our role is simply scattering the seed, sharing Christ with others. Even the picture of scattering is important; we can’t plant the Gospel in someone’s heart, we can only speak it to their ears, and show it to their eyes.

We must pray for them, and be ready to return to the conversation as the Lord allows. We must pray that the Spirit would guide others to them to speak the same truth.

Pray for opportunities to share Christ with others. And we must remind ourselves that merely religious people are not ok; they are the majority of that third kind soil, the kind that tries to pack Jesus in with everything else, but won’t repent of their idols.

Pray, too, for the courage to speak when the opportunities arise. Satan is happy to pluck up whatever he can, but he’s happier if we say nothing.

And finally, trust that the Lord’s intention to save His people is absolute. He will not fail to save them. When the Gospel falls into good soil, it will bear the fruit of eternal life.

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