I’ve grown a tomato plant this summer and some strawberries. Some turned out better than others. As a gardener you might ask why the tomatoes never turned red. Sometimes a plant might have 30 tomatoes that refused to ripen or that strawberries might not grow very big. It could be that “The soil must not be good.” heart. Here is my last lesson on the Parable of the Sower, which we find is the good soil. But before we do that lets recap and remind ourselves of this parable Why might this be? Simple, tomatoes can not thrive and produce fruit without good soil and good moisture. Neither can Strawberries produce big juicy fruit in poor dry soil.
Today, we are going to celebrate the truth that the gospel comes to those who have a good and its soil.
First the Sower – Jesus Christ
The Seeds – The Gospel of the Kingdom
The Bird – The evil one
The Soil – Our hearts and minds, we who are presented with the Gospel of the kingdom
The 4 different places where the seed has landed
1. Along the Path
2. Rocky Ground
3. Among the Thorns
4. The Good Soil
Now How Does Jesus Explains This Parable…
“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop — a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear” (Matthew 13:8-9).
Jesus tells of the kind of soil we want in our gardens. After hearing about the three other kinds of soil, the listeners probably were getting concerned if there was any hope. Jesus begins with the word still to provide a hopeful conclusion to his parable. Even though many seeds landed in places that did not produce fruit, the seeds that fell on good soil produced many multitudes of crops.
Jesus finishes by sharing that whoever has ears, let them hear. We are invited to listen to Christ and pray for His Spirit to give us this understanding in our own lives.
As I was reading this about the good soil, I was pondering a verse found in Matthew 7.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
This past week I have been thinking about where some of the people I knew in my former youth and wonder where they are now. To be honest, I know some of them have chosen lives that are the opposite of what Jesus would want for them. It has broke my heart when my dear brother died and that my mum has rejected the truth, and to hear of those who have also rejected the faith in Christ and His Word. I have often reflected on the parable of the sower and thought about just how difficult it is to truly believe and follow Jesus.
It can be very discouraging when we see so many people around us who are not following Jesus in their own lives. However, we should not be surprised because the Bible teaches us multiple times that many people will unfortunately reject Jesus. Just like there is a narrow gate, there is only the good soil. However, we can take heart and trust in our Good Saviour, that He has come for the whole world out of His love for them. We are not responsible for the response of someone else’s heart, but we have been invited into the harvest.
“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest’” (Matthew 9:37-38). We are His labourers and we’ve been employed to do a job as His servants.
Now understand this “But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matthew 13:22).
Seed (the gospel) on good soil (an open heart) refers to someone who hears the word and believes by confessing Jesus as Saviour and Lord and is baptised into Christ. We know many will reject the gospel, however there are people who do believe and obey Jesus and then go on to share that message with others so they also can grow. Some call this term “multiplying your faith.” I call it adding others to the Body of Christ when we baptise a soul into Christ we have successfully planted a seed and seen it develop into a faithful child of God able to teach others and see how they to can sow the seed of the Gospel just like you have done.
So What Is Sowing a Seed?
So what does it mean to sow a seed? To be honest, my tomato plant was given to me earlier in spring and it had already begun to grow in a small pot, all I had to do was to plant it in a much bigger pot. I was too impatient to grow a plant from seed. Webster’s Dictionary defines sow as, “To plant seed for growth especially by scattering, to set something in motion, or to scatter (seed) upon the earth for growth.”
As a matter of interest, I watched a TV program on Thursday morning that told me that a seed contains just 15% moisture in its dry form and when planted in fertile soil it swells from the moisture around it before it begins to germinate and the root then knows how to use gravity to search for moisture and nutrients in the soil beneath, then it begins to grow and push upwards the new shoot that breaks through the soil to see the light and as the root system develops it goes in search for more moisture and nutrients that give the plant more stability.
A farmer or a gardener is intentional with sowing by planting, but liberal with seeds by scattering. We are called into our lives with Jesus to be international in whom we invest in, share the gospel with, and mentor in the faith. But we also ought to be liberal in how and with whom we share the gospel. The gospel is for everyone, from our hairdresser, to the CEO of the company, to the stay-at-home mum and the teenager at school. It can be intimidating to share the gospel of Jesus because we scatter the seed in unknown territories. We cannot see the conditions of people’s hearts, but we give the gospel to them freely and pray the Holy Spirit does a work in their lives.
We might asks, “But who wants to wait around for seeds to grow? You do of course! That is, if you want to save money; grow a greater selection of plants; and enjoy an ongoing natural process.”
Sowing a seed has benefits and can produce a lot of wonderful fruit. Luke also shares that timing is important with sowing seeds. I also believe that we are called to be innocent as doves and shrewd as serpents. We want to be wise in how we share the gospel. Our relationship building, approach, and heart behind sharing with others needs to be Spirit led. We need to ask God to help us not to be afraid to share the gospel and not make excuses to ignore these opportunities. We also need to be discerning in how to best tell others about Christ.
So The Gospel on Good Soil
If you share the gospel with someone who accepts the truth and believes in Jesus, this person has good soil. But it does not end there. Jesus tells His followers to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). A disciple is a follower who is growing in the likeness of Christ. There is a difference between believing in Jesus for salvation and being a follower of Jesus. He might be someone’s Saviour, but is He Lord in your life?
Salvation is different from spiritual growth. Notice the production of fruit varied from 100, 60, and 30 times what was sown. We receive the gospel, but it is our invitation to grow in our faith by seeking Christ in the Bible, prayer, worshipping Him, obeying Him, loving others, sharing the gospel, and being in fellowship with faithful brethren.
When God blesses us with the gift of walking through the gospel with someone, it is our joy and calling to then help them grow in their faith and produce fruit in their own lives for the glory of God. This then becomes a beautiful cycle of spiritual multiplication as this follower of Jesus goes on to share the gospel with others and mentor them. The christian life in good soil has been planted by the gospel, but we are provided with the tools to grow by the watering of the Word (Ephesians 5:26) and the refinement of the body of Christ.
We can’t stay stagnant in good soil, we need to grow and share the gospel with others in order to multiply our faith with others in order to produce 30, 60, or even 100 times what Jesus has already done in us for His glory.
Now as for my tomato plant, I wonder how many tomatoes it will produce this year. By the way, just to mention, the seed comes from the fruit itself which is dried out and sown again in early spring.
Thank you for listening to this series of lessons on the Parable of the Sower, I hope it has helped you to grow in knowledge and greater understanding of the importance of where you sow your seed.
May God Bless You All.
Lesson was delivered to you by: Bro. Robert H Brown
