Rather than spending ten minutes describing what is not the purpose of life, let’s cut to the chase. Jehovah created life in the first place – for His glory. That divine purpose has never changed, and it never will – that divine purpose is eternal. However, there could be various routes taken to bring about God’s glory. For example, creation, in and of itself, is glorious – it magnifies the Creator. On the other hand, a part of that creation – man – chose to sin against his Creator. Now when the Lord reaches down in grace to redeem and rescue one of those sinners, the Saviour is particularly glorified – even more than in the original creation. It goes without saying, if man could somehow save himself, then the sinner would be glorified – not God. Thankfully, it is impossible for the sinner to save himself. Furthermore, even when the unrepentant, wicked are judged, glory is brought to God, because the divine holiness is magnified and justice is served. Man was created to bring glory to God.
Beyond – or after – the salvation of the sinner, we could ask our question again – this time to the Christian. What is the purpose of life? Even if the glory of God is the general answer, there could still be a variety of specific answers. And rather than pursuing them all like a cat chasing a dozen mice – let’s pounce on just one of them. We read it just a few minutes ago. In John 15 the Lord Jesus tells us, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.” It is a common Biblical theme that God’s saints are to bear fruit for the Lord’s glory. We can read it into the several of the parables contained in Matthew 13. And we can see it in the parable of the sower.
As I tried to point out last Sunday night, the way in which this parable is usually presented, might not be the first that the Lord intended. There is nothing specifically mentioned here about the gospel of our salvation. As I pointed out last week, “the seed is the Word of God” – or as it is stated here in Matthew – it is “the word of the kingdom.” This seed is everything about the kingdom of God from birth in that kingdom to what it says about the King. And as such this parable is as appropriate for the Christian as it is for rebellious sinner.
Having said that, I would like to present this scripture from the common evangelical perspective. Even though it is as much a Christian message, let’s consider the “seed” as the seed of the gospel. And as I said last Sunday, many of you may be able to preach this message as well as I can this morning.
First, let’s consider the obvious.
Many of our Lord’s parables are difficult to apply because there is such a wide range of interpretation. But the Parable of Sower is unique in that Christ explains some of the details for us. For example, as I’ve already said, the seed is the word of the kingdom – the word of God. If we narrow that down to the gospel, it might be less than what the Lord intended, but it is appropriate. The gospel is being scattered around the world – Brazil, Ireland, Australia, Siberia, America and elsewhere. It is falling on the ears of wealthy and poor, enslaved and free, men and women, children and adults. It is also entering the ears of both Christians and non-Christians, believers and non-believers.
The sower – the farmer – is the Lord Himself. I know that a lot of preachers would like to say that the sower is the Christian evangelist. But I have a different philosophical and theological perspective than a great many modern preachers. I believe that as Joyce Kilmer poetically said, “only God can make a tree” or cause a seed to germinate. If you would like to picture yourself or the evangelist as the hand, or the fingers, of the sower – that’s fine. Without a doubt the Lord uses human evangelists to scatter His gospel. He doesn’t generally use angels – there is no sky-writing – He rarely uses fiery bushes any more. But Jehovah is the true evangelist, and we are merely His hands, mouths and tongues.
Years, ago, when I first heard about a piece of farm equipment called a “drill,” I was intrigued. I knew that when my mother planted a garden, she would put the seed under the soil, but I had never thought about how a farmer, with thousands of acres would have to do it. I now know that there are several ways to get the seed into the ground. There might be a machine which slices the dirt, and drops the seed and then smooths the dirt over it. But there is also a machine which punches the dirt and drops the seed before smoothing it down. In the case of our parable, the farmer is “sowing” the seed – he is throwing and scattering it – not planting. I am sure that the sower would do his best to direct the seed into the best possible site for germination, but there were always a few grains which fell into less than ideal spots.
And in this we begin to see the problems of sowing.
The problem is not necessarily the inaccuracy of the sower’s eye or hand. If the farmer was paying good money for seed, and his resources were limited, he would take great care and a lot of time, to make sure that only good soil was covered with seed. But in the case of our parable, the seed is free and unlimited, so the sower is indiscriminate. When it comes to the Word of the Kingdom, there is no harm done in scattering the seed everywhere. In fact, as far as the hand is concerned, you and I cannot be sure what kind of soil lays in front of us. We should assume that the Lord can raise a plant to His glory out of any and every heart we ever meet. The problem is not the sower – it’s not even the hand.
And it goes without saying that there is no problem with the seed. “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” I believe that I am perfectly correct in saying that the “Word of God is perfect, converting the souls, making wise simple and enlightening the eyes.” Just because the seed does not spout in a wicked hard heart is not a reflection on the seed itself. Or just because a wicked person eventually turns his back on the truth of God, it is not a testimony against the nature of God.
“Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up.”
Are you a skeptical person? Are you cynical? Do you question and doubt everything, until you are compelled to believe? If so, you may be the first kind of soil in the Lord’s illustration. Perhaps you have heard that judgment awaits you, and that the fires of Hell are being stoked for you. But you have also heard that the Son of God gave His life on the cross as a sacrifice to God. You have heard that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, slain by divine decree from before the foundation of the earth. But you are not willing to admit to either point, and so the seed of God’s Word just lays there upon the top of your heart. It won’t be long before some sort of bird will come along and steal away that seed. I suppose that we could get bold and name all kinds of fowl creatures are intent on stealing God’s seed. But the Lord Jesus specifically mentions only one – “the wicked one…catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.” Most people don’t think of themselves as feeding trough for Satan, but Christ says that they are. A thousand things might steal away the truth of God from your heart this morning – what will it be? Will Satan flatter you with the idea that you are not wicked enough for God to condemn? Will he divert your attention towards your current past-time – perhaps some inane video game – until any thought about your spiritual condition is gone. Will the wicked one, remind you about how I once offended you, and use that to steal God’s seed? Will he whisper about all the good things that you have done recently, boosting your ego? Some hearts are already so hardened that you aren’t listening to the Lord or to me even at this moment.
“Some (seeds) fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” This particular problem is a special one, which has evolved over the years. Christ explained it this way in verse 20 – the seed “dureth for a while,” but “when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by (the recipient) is offended.” In our part of the world, there are not as many people who are physically harmed for their consideration of the gospel, as there once were. That is not true in other parts of the world – in Muslim, Hindu and even some Catholic countries. But in this country only a few are beaten or threatened as they lean towards belief in Christ. On the other hand there are still other kinds of pressures against the Christian. There are many who loose their jobs every year because they are practicing their Christian principles. And just as Christ said earlier, there are families which split and reject one another because of the truths of God. I think that this second aspect of the parable applies more to the professing Christian than to the man who is considering the gospel. There have been thousands of people who have made professions of faith in Christ, who have for some reason not joined with other believers in sound churches – gardens of God. They have not enjoyed the blessing of fellowship with others of like mind and faith. They have not heard the teaching and preaching of more of the Word of God. They have not had the rocks around their roots removed so that they could grow downward as well as upward. And so when unbelieving neighbors, teachers, relatives and society beat down on them like the hot afternoon sun, they wither.
In Christ’s explanation – verse 19 – He brings up an important word – “When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and UNDERSTANDETH it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.” Oh, how important it is to understand the Lord, ourselves, and the purpose for our lives. How important it is to grasp Satan’s intentions and to begin to see his wiles and stratagem. Christ says that a great part of the problem in modern Christianity is a lack of understanding. And what is the solution to that problem? The reading, teaching and preaching of the Word of God. Please don’t think that by some sort of spiritual osmosis, your inert presence in church is going to strengthen your roots and protect you from the drought which is to come. I have often been amazed to hear long-time church people say that they didn’t know that their church believed in “such and such” a doctrine. I have seen church members, or the children of church members, leave over a doctrinal issue, which they say was never taught, but which others testify had been taught time and time again. The problem with the departing member was that they permitted their roots to remain stunted.
“And some (seed) fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them.” I wonder if the Lord had a specific reason for referring to “thorns” rather than “weeds.” A thorny Canadian thistle is considered a weed, but so is sweet clover. Clover can choke out a garden as quickly or even more quickly than a thorn bush or a thistle. But the Lord refers to “thorns.”
The other day, just before one of our earlier frost, Judy went out and harvested a few more roses. She brought one of them to show me its thorns – they were particularly sharp and wicked. There are weeds and there are other weeds.
In the case of the weeds in the Lord’s parable, the thorns may keep the gardener from his due diligence. Bindweed may be a bother, and clover may take a lot of time to get out of a lawn by hand. But they won’t hurt anyone; they won’t cause infection. Those thorns looked almost deadly. I don’t believe that someone must make his life sinlessly spotless before the Lord can save his soul. Christ dealt with that subject in the last chapter. The recently cleaned, sanitized, de-demonized house may sit empty for a while, but it will be re-occupied by that demon and seven others – quite shortly.
I do not believe that repentance means sanitizing one’s soul. But I do believe that repentance ultimately means that the new Christian will want to clean house. To quit smoking, drinking and doping are not requirements which have to be met before someone can be saved, but once a person is saved, he will be lead of the Holy Spirit to deal with these sins and others. However, these and a hundred other sins may be extremely thorny and painful to remove. What if that professed believer decides that he doesn’t want to deal with those thorns? Is it possible that they might continue to proliferate until his testimony of Christ is choked out? In verse 22 – Christ said, “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” Some who turn away from the Lord were never really regenerated in the first place. Others perhaps were true Christians, but their sins, or the potential sins still out there in the world, choked out their productivity for the Lord. Remember that the purpose for our existence in this world is to bear fruit for the Lord’s glory. We can do that passively as we are cast into the Lake of Fire. Or we can do it throughout our lives, by germinating, growing and bearing fruit.
After explaining some of the problems, the Lord describes the ideal.
“But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Temporarily laying aside the work that God Himself does in this process, we must consider ourselves. Are you willing to be good soil for the seed of the Word? Picture a family with three children in it – all boys. The first child was born after several years of marriage, and he instantly became the delight of mother, Father, grandparents, aunts, uncles in-laws and outlaws. That child was pampered and spoiled as if there was never going to be another baby born in world. But then came a surprise – another baby was born. As “son number two” grew, he quickly saw that he was going to have to be better than his brother in every way or he’d not be well-accepted. So he pushed himself, excelling in both sports and school – he was smarter, stronger, even more spiritual, but still he was only “son number two.” And then came an even greater surprise – “son number three.” Immediately this child – this runt of the liter – realized that there was no way that he could compete with either of his older siblings. So sadly, this son went in the opposite direction – rather than excellence, he rebelled against everything. For example, when the family went to church “son number three” refused to listen, refused to participate, refused to respond. He made sure that his heart was stony, thorny and rocky – he was deliberate. When the Holy Spirit convicted him, he silenced that still small voice, drowning it out with anything that he could think of. Oh, pray that your children be soft to the touch of the Holy Spirit; soft moist soil for the seed of the Word.
And pray that your children, your friends and your other evangelistic contacts would understand. “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it.” I come back to something I said at the beginning of this message. I am convinced that the sower is the Lord Himself. Only God can guarantee the best soil; only the Lord can open the heart of a hardened sinner. Only God can make the seed germinate and sprout. Only God can generate or regenerate the human soul. And this makes faith and prayer absolutely essential in our work of evangelism. How can the one whom Satan hath blinded – “lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine unto him” – understand his need and God’s solution? Only by the grace and power of God. Plead with the Lord for the salvation of your lost loved ones – He is the Sower and He is the Saviour.
But, if you are at this moment still rotting in your sins and unbelief, I ask you why? Don’t blame the Lord for your unbelief; don’t say that God hasn’t opened your heart as yet. While that may be theologically true, what is your attitude about it and what are you doing about it? I exhort you to repent and confess your unbelief and hardness of heart. Believe what God enables you to believe, and ask Him for grace to believe more – and more strongly. Put your trust in the blood which Christ has shed on Calvary. It was poured out there upon the cross as the altar of God. That blood was designed and decreed by God as the atonement for sinners like you. Trust that sacrifice – trust that blood – believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal sacrifice. Let the Lord enable you to become fruitful unto Him – thirty-fold, sixty-fold or even an hundredfold.