THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER AND THE FOUR FIELDS

CHRIST THE ROCK CONGREGATION

SUNDAY APRIL 23^RD 2023 

Sermon by pastor Marc Simeon

THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Mr 4:1 ¶ And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.

 2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:

 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.

 4 “And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.

 5 “Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.

 6 “But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.

 7 “And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

 8 “But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

 9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

 10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.

 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,

 12 “so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.'”

 13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?

 14 “The sower sows the word.

 15 “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

 16 “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

 17 “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.

 18 “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,

 19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

 20 “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

INTRODUCTION

• Usually a parable only conveys one central message.
• In the Parable of the Sower, the main emphasis could be on anyr of these three elements.
• It could be called
  • The parable of the Sower, or
  • The parable of the fields, or
  • The parable of the seed.
• All three of these elements seem essential to the meaning of the parable.

THE EMPHASIS OF THE SOWER

• God is the Sower
• God is represented as a farmer, and the world is represented as the field.
• God is the one who wants harvest human souls to export them to heaven.
• God is the one who takes the initiative to save the souls of fallen humanity.
• God is the one who prepares and provides the seed of salvation.
• God is the one who commands for the seed to be sowed everywhere indiscriminately.
• The harvest belongs to God
• The fields belong to God
• The seed belongs to God.
• God allows for each field to have its own particularity and distinctive.
• Each one of us represents one of type of field with respect to our reception of the Word of God.

THE EMPHASIS OF THE FIELD

1. THE WAYSIDE
2. The sate of one’s heart represents which type of field he is with respect to the Gospel.
3. The first field was completely non-responsive to the seed.
4. It was only good for people to travel upon but not for reproduction.
5. There are many useful people in this world who have nothing to do with God.
6. They are good for other things, and they render great services to society, but they have no room in their heart for the Word of God.
7. The seed remains exposed and the birds eat it, and people trample it under their feet.
8. The vast majority of the people of this world live for their own self-interest.
9. Many ridicule the message of salvation as if they don’t need it,
10. The birds expect their feed to come from the first field.
11. Every spiritual got wasted on the first field.
12. The devil has blinded their spiritual eyesight so that they would not see their needs of God.
13. 2Co 4:3-4 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
14.  4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.

• STONY GROUND
• The stony ground is also a field.
• Usually stormy rains create erosions whereby the first dirt layer gets washed away leaving just the stones to be exposed.
• Although the surface looks stony, there might be enough dirt to sustain the life of the plant temporarily.
• The roots are blocked from reaching deeper in the ground to absorb water and other nutrients.
• The seed finds itself in distress immediately because of the heat of the sun and it dies.
• The seed wants to live but the conditions of the field do not allow it.
• Many would embrace the Christian faith but they realize that they will not be able to survive due to the immediate environment.
• In the natural world, the grounds seem to have little to do about their state of being, but in life, one can improve the state of his field.
• The barren field can decide to be fertile.
• People are now bringing life back in some deserted fields.
• It is a matter of decision and priority.
• Anyone can improve the ground of his heart with respect to God.

• THE THORNY OR BUSHY FIELD
• The 3^rd field has a different kind of problem.
• Unlike the first two fields, this one receives the seed joyfully.
• If shows the initial signs of life.
• It shows initial signs of progress.
• The problem with the 3^rd field was not bareness.
• The field was also occupied with all sorts of other plants.
• The 3rd field was not selective and discriminative, but universal.
• The 3^rd field believed in spirituality but it welcomes all sorts of spiritualities and beliefs.
• To cultivate the seed of God, all other seeds must be weeded out.
• The field must have a narrow minded and exclusive attitude to cultivate God’s seed.
• The danger of the 3^rd field was that the weeds grow faster than the good seed.
• The weeds suck all the nutrients and sunlight, and thereby choke the life out of the good seed.
• Many in this world fall into that category.
• Many are eager to talk about their seed of salvation, while all that can be seen in them are the weeds.
• The weeds are anything and everything that hinders your spiritual development.
• Hardships, persecutions, philosophies, doubts, alienation, setbacks, restrictions, disciplines, demands and the list goes on to make it very difficult for the seed of God to flourish in one’s life. 
• While the garden may appear to be green and alive, the very seed that was supposed to excel dies out of neglect.

4-THE GOOD FIELD

• In the parable of the Sower, there is one good field.
• The good field was as fertile as the 3rd field, but the difference was that this field was well cared for.
• Underlying in this parable is the good gardener.
• A good gardener keeps his eyes on his field.
• He knows how to prepare the field for sowing.
• He knows how much water is needed for his crops.
• He knows when best to seed the field.
• He knows how to protect the field from intruders.
• He knows what time of the year, of the month, of the week, and of the day to plant each particular seed.
• The good farmer knows how to fertilize the field for best yielding.
• The good farmer spends a good part of his life weeding out the field.
• The good farmer monitors the crops to see if it is in good shape or retarded.
• The state of the good field is not by accident but the product of hard work.

THE EMPHASIS OF THE SEED

• First we know that the seed is from God.
• We know that this is the only seed of its kind.
• We know that the seed has the power of transformation in it.
• We know that this seed cannot grow with the presence of other seeds.
• We know that God desires for the seed to be sowed in all fields.
• We know that this seed contains eternal life.
• We know that the seed is very potent based on the field it is planted on.
• We know that the seed represents Jesus Christ.

PARABLE EXPLAINED

Mr 4:14 “The sower sows the word.

 15 “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.

• We have an adversary who is against the plan of salvation of humanity.
• We have an active group of gangsters who are seeking out to turn God’s effort to cultivate this world into a failure.

 16 “These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;

 17 “and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.

• The reality of the Christian life is not always rosy.
• Everyone who takes side with God will be persecuted.
• To stumble is to lose your faith.
• The seed of salvation can die if not properly cared for.

 18 “Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,

 19 “and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

• Christians must choose to wait to get to heaven to enjoy all that life has to offer.
• Many get sidetracked in pursuing the luxuries of this world in exchange of their souls.
• The Word of God can be choked by worldly ambitions. 

 20 “But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”

• Hear the Word
• Accept the demands of the Word
• Bear fruit according to the seed of God that was planted in them.
• The yielding is almost irrelevant but it matters to God that we bear much fruits.
• Unless we mature in the Lord to the point of bearing good fruits, then the effort was wasted.

CONCLUSION

• Aim to be the good ground that bears fruits of righteousness.
• Ask God to show you what your field looks like in His sight.
• Be aware that Satan is working against your salvation.
• Remember that the secret is the Word of God unto salvation.
• Know it, accept it, and bear fruits of righteousness as intended by God.

AMEN!