The Parable of the Sower

Title: The Parable of the Sower

Text: Mark 4

I was having devotions this morning and read the parable of the Sower.  Does it bother you what the Lord says in verses 11-13?  Especially verse 11 where Jesus states, “11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:”, does that seem fair to you?  Why would Jesus do that?  First of all notice verse 1.  Jesus was teaching a great multitude from a boat.  Jesus had walked on water, so why didn’t he do that here?  Why not just walk out on the water, turn around and teach?  For that matter why not just do the transfiguration of Matthew 17 right there in front of the huge crowd?  Moses and Elijah could appear out on the water with Jesus and his glory revealed to the masses?  Why not thousands of angels visible overhead like what the Shepherds saw after Christ’s birth?  I think the reason is that the closer you draw to the Lord, the more you see his power in a way the world never does.  It’s not that the Lord Jesus desires the world to miss who he is.  He says in I Timothy 2:3-4, “in the sight of God our Saviour; 3 For this is good and acceptable  4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”  I have felt the joy of the Lord like an irresistible flood flowing through me.  It’s not that others couldn’t have this, even believers, it is that they are walking their own path.  They give lip service to the Lord but effectively their life is about this life and what they can get out of it and this makes their life unfruitful...the very point of the parable of the Sower!  The Lord has done miracles for me and worked things out that others will never know about or even if they did would probably just rationalize away.  After all, when God the Father talked from the air to Jesus Christ the crowd reacted oddly, “The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.” (John 12:29).  Angels from Heaven are going to warn people in the future not to take the Mark of the Beast and they will anyway (Revelation 14:6-11).

Jesus implies that these parables could have been understood by the disciples when he says, “13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?”  Mary, Lazarus’ sister, understood Jesus was going to die when the disciples were clueless.  The Centurion understood Christ when he says to him, “8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.  9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”  Christ is very impressed with the insight and faith of the man.  Didn’t Jesus said, “Seek and you will find?”  Doesn’t the Bible say if you lack wisdom, ask God?  What does Jesus say to the two disciples on the road after his resurrection?  “25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:  26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?  27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”  When the religious leaders say that Jesus cast out demons with the devil’s power what does Jesus say?  (Matthew 12) “25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:  26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?  27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.  28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.  29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.  30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.  31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.”  What in the context of this conversation was “blasphemy of the Holy Ghost” or what many call “The Unpardonable Sin”?  It is the Holy Spirit bringing to their attention through the Word of God that Jesus is preaching and through his power, that this is the Messiah, the Son of David, and God in the flesh!  What do they do with that silent witness?  They ignore it or suppress it and start saying awful things about Christ.  The only sin God won’t forgive is not accepting Jesus as your Savior, which is what the Spirit was prompting these men to do.

Understanding these things help us with the parable.  God’s Word is entering hearts with the power of the Holy Spirit and it is being resisted.  Today Satan is beginning to be seen as a hero.  He’s a TV star in a police procedural with the plot outline being, “Lucifer Morningstar has decided he's had enough of being the dutiful servant in Hell and decides to spend some time on Earth to better understand humanity. He settles in Los Angeles - the City of Angels. Lucifer, bored from his sulking life in hell, comes to live in Los Angeles.”  Satan (formerly called Lucifer) is a mass murderer that makes Hitler look like a ineffective child in comparison.  He loves to appear as an angel of light, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14).  Can you imagine if a major TV station ran a new police procedural called, “Hitler!”  On the show, Hitler wearies of the death camps and goes to the future, living in LA and solves crimes.  The show runs jokes about the gas chambers killing Jews, Christians, and gay people.  No would stand for that.  Yet having a show about the most evil being in human history has been described by critics as, “Lucifer's got sex appeal, but the show's hackneyed cop procedural format undermines a potentially entertaining premise.”  Why do I bring Satan up?  Because in the parable of the Sower he is the first one that attacks the sown seed.  He flat out steals it from people’s hearts.  In a day where Atheists are trying to get schools to have Satan clubs because they think Satan is a great mythical rebel, that has great qualities they miss reality.  The real devil is a murderous psychopath who plots the destruction of as many human lives and nations as he can.  The Bible says he is a thief who comes to destroy, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)  Satan and his army of evil spirits whisper in people’s ears, “Oh, you don’t want to go to church.  You’re so tired.”  As the Bible is being preached he insists, “This is so BORING!”  When truth is being presented, he rolls his eyes and mutters in ears, “All the smart people don’t believe this!  Please don’t tell me you are falling for it!”   He has seen Almighty God but he whispers in the Atheists ear, “There is no God!”  A person starting to consider the claims of the Bible he laughs, “Come on!  There are so many religions in the world and Christianity is so fragmented!  Are you really falling for this religious junk?”  He steals with no other purpose than to destroy human life.  Unlike a mass murder who can only steal your life, he is trying to get people to burn forever, because he hates humans.  He doesn’t even like people that work for him.  When God asked the demons at the end of I Kings who was going to kill Ahab they didn’t say, “Nothing doing God!  We love that guy!  He works for us!”  No.  They are all trying to get the job!  They can’t wait to kill him!

The soil with shallow roots, I’ve seen many times.  These kinds of seed grow up in church or come to the Lord as an adult and are very enthusiastic for a time.  Then the world comes and mocks them.  “You really believe in a creation story?  All scientists believe in Evolution!  You believe in a world wide flood?  Are you stupid?  You think abortion is evil?  You think that various lifestyle decisions are evil?  You obviously hate women and you are an evil, hateful person!”  They fall away and say things like, “I don’t believe that stuff anymore.” 

The last and most dangerous one is the love of a secular life.  Why do Christians think they can ignore the Lord’s house (which Jesus Christ invented) and not read their Bible, and God will be okay with that?  The riches and tasks of this life overwhelm the Word of God and they stop bearing fruit.  I’m all for living life to the fullest but only with Jesus Christ at your side!  Christian marriages are falling apart, many times not because of their partner but because of your relationship with Christ!  Parents and Grandparents model that God’s house is a LOW priority and that the Bible is stupid.  Oh, they don’t say that or believe that but they model it none the less!  Thousands of people who know better are chasing their own will in America today and NOT God’s will.  Millions of children and grandchildren will go to Hell due to the apathy of the adults in their lives.