Parables: Parable of the Soils

we've been looking at the lessons for life from the hard sayings of jesus But today we begin a little switch, look at lessons for life in the familiar parables of Jesus. And for the next three weeks we'll be looking at very familiar parables and asking what are the lessons for life that we learn from these parables. So here we go. Luke chapter 8, let's start at verse 4. Luke 8 verse 4.

While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable. A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path. It was trampled on and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture.

Other seed fell among thorns which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop a hundred times more than was sown. When he said this, he called out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. His disciples asked him what his parable meant.

He said, The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that though seeing they may not see, though hearing they may not understand. This is the meaning of the parable. The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy, but when they hear it, they have no root.

They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

It's a turning point in the ministry of Jesus. Large crowds are now following him. He is a popular teacher. a popular healer, one who provides things that people like because it helps them. But the crowds are huge now. They are diverse crowds. The text says that the people came from town after town. So from a lot of different areas there in Palestine, people are flocking to hear Jesus. And that's when Jesus begins to do it. He begins to teach in a way that begins to sift in a way that begins to divide, in a way that begins to make clear who is sincere and who is not, who is really interested in following Jesus, and who's just interested in getting the benefits that he provides.

That's what happens when you get large crowds, folks. You get all sorts of people, all types of people, all sorts of reasons for being there, and Jesus knows that. And he begins to speak in ways that begins to separate. he speaks to them in parables why does jesus use parables well a parable is a story that takes a common situation in life and lays alongside of it theological teaching or teaching about truth so jesus takes a very common situation in the life of the people and he wants them to understand and truth. So parables for some who are receptive illuminate. They help people understand. But there's another reason Jesus uses parables. There are some who are not receptive. And Jesus speaks in parables so that they will not understand. That's what the text says.

Did you see it there? Verse 11, I think it was. Verse 10.

But to others I speak in parables so that though seeing they may not see, though hearing they may not understand. So while parables for the receptive are illuminating, for those who are heart of heart, parables are a judgment of God. He speaks to them in a way that they will not understand, on their hardness of heart. So these parables can mask meaning for the heart of heart, but then illuminate meaning for those who are receptive. So we see Jesus giving us a very common parable here, a parable that has several key actors or components in the parable. And I want to be sure we understand who the key actors and components are. Here they are. First is the sower. Many people identify the sower as Jesus Christ, but the sower is really anyone who is proclaiming the Word of God. Anyone who is proclaiming the Word of God. The sower could be a preacher. The sower could be a teacher. The sower could be a parent who teaches. It can be anyone who is proclaiming and teaching the Word of God. Secondly is the seed. The seed is the Word of God. This is easy. Jesus tells us in the text what the seed is. It is the Word of God. The third actor is Satan. In the parable, there's a talk about birds coming in eating the seeds, and when Jesus explains what the parable means, it's clear that the birds represent Satan as he seeks to keep people from acquiring or understanding the word then there are the soils and the soils represent us folks represent us in fact jesus wants us to think about ourselves in this parable and if you just listen to this parable and all you say is oh yeah there are different types of responses to god's word and that's all you hear without asking the question what kind of soil am i you have missed the point of the parable because jesus ultimately wants us to ask the question of ourselves how have i responded to god's word or in other words what kind of soil am i Do you hear?

Jesus wants to get in your heart, and he wants you to ask yourself the question, what kind of soil am I?

That's what these parables are designed to do, folks. They're not designed to give us abstract theological knowledge. They are designed to make us look at our own hearts and our own minds and see where we stand. So, what kind of soil am I? Let's understand the different types of soils, and you answer that question for yourself as we go through this lesson.

The first type of response to the gospel or the word of God, the first type of soil is the soil of the hardened or resistant response. In Palestine, when they planted fields, people would walk through the fields,

footpaths and those footpaths would be pounded down as people walked on them. And so when this sower sowed the seed, some of it fell on that very hardened soil, the soil that would not receive the seed. And as the seed sits there, the birds come and eat it up because the soil would not receive it. And this is the person with the hardened or resistant response to the word of God. This is the heart that has allowed sin to so walk and trample on the heart that the heart has become calloused, has no interest whatsoever in the Word of God.

The person who has the hardened and resistant response to the gospel is often the person who views God's Word as simply an emotional crutch for the intellectually weak. They do not believe that the Bible is anything other than an unenlightened ancient word of a superstitious people. And anyone who has this hardened resistant heart has no real interest in understanding what the word says because they really believe the Bible has little to say to those of us who are in the enlightened 21st century who now have all the scientific knowledge and understanding. I don't need this word from this ancient time. has all the answers and the Bible just really does not. It is on this hardened and resistant heart when the seed is sown that Satan can quickly and easily steal the word away from the heart and mind of the person. And Satan always wants to do that. He wants to always plant doubts about the scriptures so that our hearts will be hardened to it. He raises up all sorts of influences to make us harden our hearts toward the word. Satan hates the word. He hates us. And he wants us to be ignorant of its teachings, to ignore its teachings, and to think it has nothing to say to us. Because he knows if he can turn us from the word, he can destroy us spiritually. And Jesus is giving a warning to those of hardened and calloused hearts. You are in great danger. The enemy is easily able to keep the word from you and you are in great spiritual danger.

The second response is the shallow emotional response. This is the response that corresponds to the sea that fell on the rocky soil. In Palestine, there were areas that would have very little soil and there would be a limestone substrata of rock, there would be very little moisture that could get to the seed when it fell on the rocky soil. No moisture and therefore no root.

So the person with a shallow emotional response that corresponds to the seed on the rocky soil is the person who hears the word,

professes belief, even expresses joy at the moment of belief, but they lack roots. They have not genuinely put their faith in a saving Lord. They have not understood fully the meaning of the word, and they have not let the word take root in their lives. These are people whose expressions of faith are not matched by a desire to understand and get grounded in the truth of God's Word. To them, knowledge and understanding isn't really all that important.

They're really more concerned about how they feel when they go to church. They're looking for that emotional response. The experience of emotion is more important to them than the transforming power of God's Word. So they don't set roots down in God's Word. They don't get grounded in God's Word.

is rarely satisfied with church because after a while the experience begins to wear off. The feelings begin to fade so they begin to look for another church or another setting where the experience of emotion and feeling can be reignited. The problem with this person, the person who has this emotional sort of shallow response to the gospel is the problem is they do not lay down roots so that when the first difficulty comes the first hiccup, the first persecution, the first having to give something up to follow Jesus, they're not willing to do it

because they've not laid down roots in the word. They're not grounded in the word. They're just there for the emotional high, the emotional feeling and as soon as that disappears there's no more to them. These plants get burnt up easily when the sun comes out, when difficulty comes. The third response, the distracted and disobedient response. This is a response of the person where the seed gets planted. Yes, some roots grow, but then all of a sudden, all sorts of weeds spring up to choke the word, and the fruitfulness doesn't come from this plant. The plant doesn't grow to full maturity and does not produce fruit because the plant is choked out. Those who have this distracted, disobedient response are often very successful people. People who in the eyes of the world would likely be important people. People who would have a lot of pride about themselves. These are people who may well have a demanding job, a beautiful home, a very nice car, fashionable clothes, engaging hobbies, and a good bank account. This person loves his or her lifestyle and would not give it up for anything or anyone, including Jesus Christ. This person's always dealing with urgent matters. You know they're important. Their time is valuable. They're always on

always being interrupted in the midst of the conversation. This is the person who says he wants to give more time to God and his word, but he just can't find the time because of all the distractions in his life, his work schedule. He's putting in extra hours to cover the expenses of the home and the new pool and the new car and the new satellite TV system. This person's involved in many civic and community affairs and so doesn't have the time to devote to the ministry of the word and the ministry of God. course, there are the football games in football season. There are a lot of football games this year. It just happened to be a lot of more away games, so I couldn't make it to church quite as often. This person also has to spend many weekends away to tend to his vacation home. Shopping at the malls is always important. You won't always take care of the latest sales. You don't want to miss any of those. And of course, the important camaraderie of being with your buddies on Sunday morning fishing or on the golf course is so important that you just can't work in time for the word or for God. And of course, your favorite TV shows can't be missed either. Three to four hours a day with TV is essential to be able to be sure what the latest event is on the show Friends or whatever. Thank God that show is off. Of course, we're just going to hear reruns forever.

Do you hear what I'm saying? To this person, words like sacrifice, discipleship, obedience are not part of their vocabulary. For them, religion is okay to a point, but they much prefer the type that leaves them free to pursue all sorts of other interests. These folks are comfortable citizens of the world and they feel really at home on earth and really just do not wish to be disturbed. And Satan loves it.

He'll keep them tied up with the inconsequential, the unimportant, the temporary. And he doesn't much have to worry about the impact these folks will have because they will never grow to full maturity in Christ. They will never bear fruit. because they don't give Christ and his word the priority in their lives. Everything else is always taking Christ's place or the word's place.

We know folks like this, don't we? We may be one of them. And lastly is the fruitful, obedient response. This is the person, the text says, who has a noble and good heart. In other words, this is the seed that fell on good soil, the soil of a noble and good heart.

And it's a heart that is honest and receptive. That's where fruit is going to be born. When God's word gets planted in a receptive heart, an honest heart, that realizes the value of God's word and gives his or her life to following after that word. This is the person who pays diligent attention to the Scriptures, for they know that in the Scriptures are the words of life. They know that the Scriptures are a lamp to their feet and a light to their path.

They know there is nothing more delightful in the long run than knowing the Scriptures and being obedient to the Scriptures. This is the person who loves God and shows it by being obedient to His commands. This person lets all of their decisions in life be guided by the principles of Scripture. They find Christian faith in God's Word delightful and refreshing, and they are passionate about it. They're a lot more interested in what the Bible has to say than Dr. Phil or Oprah or Rush.

They know that the words of life are found from a different source. And these people show the fruit of faith and the word in their lives because their chief loyalty is to the Savior, not to themselves. There are observable differences in their conduct and character as a result of their faith and obedience to God's word. Their talk is matched by their walk. Their chief purpose in life is to glorify God.

Their priorities, their attitudes, and their actions seem strangely at odds with the culture in which they live. They march to the beat of a different drummer, a heavenly one. They understand that God's grace is costly grace, the kind of grace that demands discipleship, that demands obedience. These folks are puzzled and troubled by those who claim to have Christian faith, but show little passion for the Word or for Jesus Christ. To be sure, these of good soil fall short at times, but when they do, they're on their knees remorseful and repentant for the Lord and then getting back up seeking to serve Him.

They are diligent stewards of the gifts that God has given them, and they are more concerned about advancing his kingdom than their own kingdom. They cheerfully give of their money to advance the cause of Christ, not to build up their little kingdoms. For them, no sacrifice is too great, no journey too far, no mountain too high in the service of their king. They may reside on this earth, but this is not their home. They are citizens of another kingdom.

what kind of soil am I? Do I have a hardened and calloused heart? Did I at one time have an emotional response to the gospel or God's word,

but develop no roots? Am I somebody who has let the word get planted, the seed get planted, but now I am so distracted by the affairs of this life, I can't devote my time or efforts to it. or are you bearing fruit?

It's evident which is most the one we should seek, isn't it? We should seek to be the people of receptive hearts who are diligent in obeying God's Word and following after the things of Jesus Christ. So, here are my lessons for life. Make time for God and His Word. Did you hear me?

Make time. We did a survey in this class a couple of years ago where I asked, what's the greatest difficulty for your Christian walk? And the number one answer was, I don't have enough time.

We all have the same amount of time. It's not that we don't have enough time. It's that we choose to place other things before God and His Word. We have enough time, folks, if we give God the priority that he should have. I'm going to suggest to us that if we want to be that fruitful soil, we've got to spend some time looking at our schedules, and we've got to be intentional about weeding out those things that are the distractions that impede our service to our Lord.

I'm not to say we don't get to have any extracurricular things, extracurricular things begin to take priority over Jesus Christ and his word, we need to cut those out. It's not an easy thing to do. And I will tell you, our culture will press us to not cut them out. Our culture will press us to be doing the same things that everybody else is doing. Don't give in.

We're not here to be like everybody else. We're here to be different. So be different. Be different. live the way Jesus Christ wants us to don't surrender to the culture stand up and fight Satan wants you to surrender don't do it don't do it and I'm preaching to myself too if the Bible commands it then let's do it let's do it

the problem is that is not that we don't know what to do. The problem is we know exactly what we're supposed to do, but we just don't do it.

My guess is that most of us in this room could look at our schedules, look at our priorities in life, and we could, if we were very honest, say exactly what Jesus would want us to change about our lives and about what we're doing. The reality is many of us are not willing to do that because to change in a way that would be honoring to him would require us to be very different in how we're living today. in a number of areas. But I'm going to tell you, at the end of the day, doing what the Word calls us to do will be the most fulfilling, satisfying thing we've ever done. So let's just do it.

Let's do it. Beware of crowds.

Beware of crowds. They're usually headed in the wrong direction. Jesus was very wary when crowds began to follow Him. He knew that there were a lot of people no real genuine interest in following after him. They were just in it for whatever they could get out of it.

And I'm going to tell you, in our culture, we used to preach this to our children. It's a good thing to preach to children, I think. Beware of the crowd. It's not that the crowd is always wrong, but the crowd often is swayed by things that have very little to do with obedience to God's word. So be careful.

it's hard not to walk as part of the crowd. You can feel lonely and isolated. You can get made fun of. That's tough, particularly in those high school and middle school years. It's also tough for adults, too.

But love Jesus enough to stand alone against the whole world, if need be. To do what he wants us to do. That's what we should be about.

Fourthly, if we want genuine spiritual revival, then let's turn to God's word.

Dwight Moody said, the best way to revive a church is to build a fire in the pulpit. And by that he meant we need preachers and we need teachers who will preach God's word straight up, straight out, uncompromisingly. And calling people to do exactly what scripture says should be done. Preaching's purpose, as John Newton said, is to break a hard heart. To break a hard heart.

And to heal a broken heart. and Oren Gifford noted that when the apostle Paul preached after he preached there was usually either a riot or a revival and I think if we're preaching God's word the way it should be taught and we're teaching the way it should be taught we're either going to start to see people changing to conform to God's word or they're going to be so upset with the straight preaching that there's going to be riot or people who are uncomfortable with what's happening We need a little more riot, I think, and we need a lot more revival. So listen to the teaching of the Word and the preaching of the Word and let it penetrate your heart. And let's see genuine revival. Fifthly, repeated little decisions in the spiritual battle can have long-term impact.

Make good little decisions. I'm not talking about the kinds of decisions that are the big decisions right now the decisions like do I change profession to do something God has called me to do do I make a significant move I'm talking about the little decisions I'm talking about when you've got the clicker in your hand what you're going to click to and watch you're going to watch something that starts to callous your heart harden your heart, scar your heart are you going to click it off, which is probably the best decision, or at least to something that's wholesome and uplifting?

How about the little decisions? To be at church on Sunday morning rather than missing for something that's inconsequential. Sometimes there may be a legitimate reason to miss, but when the habit begins, I'm missing so I can go to a football game or I can go play golf. That little decision, we're starting to make decisions that the soil gets compacted, gets harder.

Start with the little decisions. Do the right little things and it can have long-term impact. Say no to the noise and distractions in our lives. If Satan could accomplish his ultimate goal, he would make more and more noise. Start to pay attention to when you go to places, how much literal noise there is in our culture.

I went up to Gordon Commonwealth's graduation a couple of weeks ago. Went down early in the morning to meet with Beto Mengistu from Ethiopia. Have a conversation with him before early that morning over breakfast. And the TV was on. Nobody was in the room.

But they had already turned the TV on because they knew people would want the noise of the TV. I went to a supermarket. loud music. I go to a restaurant, loud music. We are invaded by email, fax, computer, TV, radio, and the noise distracts us. I'm serious. Trust me, sometimes we need to unplug so that we can listen to the word of the Lord. You cannot read your scriptures adequately and

we need some quiet I'm telling you Satan's going to try to fill the whole universe with noise and he's doing a pretty good job

the noise at the right place at the right times can be helpful technology is a good thing but boy it can quickly become something that sucks the life out of us if we're not careful

Our desire for God is directly proportional to our desire for Scripture, says J.I. Packer. If you love Jesus Christ, if you love Jesus Christ, if you love Jesus Christ, you will get into this word. And if you are not in this word, then your words of love for Jesus Christ are just wind. They're not reality.

Get into the Word.

What kind of soil am I? Let's pray.

Lord, help us to be honest with ourselves and honest with you.

But don't let us stay the same. Don't let us just be willing to float along in this life, happy because we're sort of like everybody else is. Help us to want to be people who are known as men and women who love Jesus Christ more than life itself. Do not let us drift. Do not let us coast.

Penetrate our hearts. Open our minds. By your Spirit, make us different. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.