Parable of the Sower

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Introduction

Need to Gather Together
Need God’s Provision in our Life - His Word, Preached, Taught, Evangelized
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Kingdom of God.

Jesus calls us to realize that we live for Kingdom of God, not the Kingdom of Men
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John 18:36 ESV
Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
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First Kingdom Principle

If You are a Member of Kingdom of God, then Your Life is being Changed by the power of God
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Biblically,

“Created in Christ Jesus for Good Works” Eph 2:10
“You will recognize them by their fruits” Matt 7:16
“those who are elect… for obedience to Jesus Christ” 1 Peter 1:2
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Theologically,

Justification implies Sanctification

Practically,

Fruit is the test of salvation

Logically,

If Saved, then changing

Whimsically,

Salvation is not by works, but salvation always works
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Read Matthew 13:1-9

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Parable -

An everyday story that is used to teach a supernatural reality to those who are willing to hear
Approximately one-third of Jesus’ teaching is in parables.
The Greek word parabolē occurs fifty times in the NT
40 parables woven into the gospel record.
Matthew 13:11 - “Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven”
Truth revealed by God that had not been revealed in the Old Testament
Secret uncovered
Parables are Truth Hidden in Plain Sight
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The Parable of the Soils

Matthew 13:1-9; Mark 4:3-8; Luke 8:4-8

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Launch of the Kingdom of God in a person’s life.

Through the Planting of the Seed - Preaching the Word of God
The Seed is God’s Word
The Soils represent the different types of hearts
The Results represent the response of the heart to God’s Word
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Kingdom Principle: If You are a Member of Kingdom of God, then Your Life is being Changed by the power of God
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The Word of God produces fruit in a believer’s life.
If Reborn > Produce Fruit
If No Fruit > Not Reborn
False Idea: a person can be in relationship with God through Jesus Christ and not be changed.
Absolutely foreign to the teaching of Jesus Christ, the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the overwhelming majority of Historical Theology.
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Generally...
This parable explains how the unredeemed heart can prevent rebirth
This parable explains why the sower should be intentional and deliberate about where he plants
This parable explains how the heart can deceive believers and temporarily limit fruit in a believers life
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Jesus’ Explanation of the Parable - Matthew 13:18-23

Situation - Complication - Resolution
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Situation - A farmer plants seed
Complication - Some seed seems to produce a crop, but most does not
Resolution - Truth about God’s Kingdom
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Situation -

Common Agricultural Field; The Cultivation of Crops
Seed - God’s Word (vs. 18)
Sower - Ambassador (vs. 19)
Soil - Heart of the Hearer (vs. 19-23)
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Seed

God’s Word - word of the Kingdom (vs. 19)
God’s Inspired Word;
God’s truth expressed through the vehicle of a human being… writing, speech, private, public
Scripture prioritizes the ministry of preaching, teaching, evangelism…

Sower

Casting seed… falling in many places
Wise Farmer
knows his fields and is deliberate about where he casts it; nevertheless, seed falls in a variety of places
Jesus is revealing His intentional, deliberate, strategic, calculated, purposeful spreading of the seed.
When he realizes that the religious leaders of the day would not respond, he shift his sowing.
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Ambassador of the Kingdom
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God

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Soil

Heart of the Hearer
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PATH -

Field - pathways through larger fields
Place to walk so without killing crops
hardened by feet, baked by sun, hard as concrete
Seed lies on the hardened path until it is picked up by birds
No Fruit
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ROCK

Not rocky soil, but on the rock - Rock Bed
Below the surface soil... is not reached during the plowing.
Seed embeds, but the root system cannot reach any kind of depth; where the life producing moisture is found.
The plant grows quick = all the energy is spent above surface
But the wise farmer knows what is coming - death.
No Fruit
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THORNS

word for a thorn bush that is harmful to plants.
typically removed, but root left
grow stronger beneath the surface - Deceptive
Looks good on the surface, but thorn outgrows plant
Uses any life and water and nutrients, blocks the sunlight from the plant, and kills the seed.
Chokes it out.
No Fruit
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GOOD SOIL

Desired Soil - ready for the seed.
Produces a great crop.
Wise Farmer recognizes it; Wise Farmer works hard to improve it
No Fruit
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Complication

The Seed and the Sower are the same, but the response is very different.

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#1 Path - Hard Heart - No Fruit (verse 19)

Hear
Quickly reject
soil is not broken up or plowed
No conviction sin, no desire righteousness, no fear judgment
John 16:7-11 is important here
John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
Soil is not ready.
Truth 1: The life of the sower can be used to open people’s hearts to longing for truth (Matthew 5:16
Truth 2: Avoid the tendency to make this judgment about people... “they don't want to hear the gospel any more”... response, ridicule, lifestyle, clothing, language... the people Jesus primarily encounters with this kind of heart would have been the most respected!
Kingdom Mentality in Matthew 5-7.
Matthew 7:15… beware of false prophets… sheeps clothing, but inwardly are wolves.

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#2 Rock - Shallow Heart - No Fruit (vs 20-21)

Hear
Receive
Joy... believe for a while... troubling statement... Joy alone is not the indicator of True Faith
Hear - offer of the wrong Kingdom
superficial, short-lived response
Lacks depth... time of testing reveals their real desire... Reveals a selfish expectation and assumption based upon the Gospel

Danger of the False Gospel

Prosperity…
You are blessed, Child of the King… But what about when blessing includes persecution, rejection,
Emotional / Sentimental Gospel -
God loves you, He calls you His work of Art, Beautiful, Special, if you were the only person in all of creation He would die for you… Who is defining love here. Does your definition of love include tribulation… suffering, loss, cost, sacrifice, putting to death what this world calls most precious.
Jesus described the Kingdom Mentality in Matthew 5-7.
Matthew 5:43-44… pray for those who persecute you.

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#3 Thorn - Divided Heart - No Fruit (verse 22)

Hear
Do not fully embrace
Hear … eyes on the wrong Kingdom
Divided between spiritual and wordly
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Cares of the World - clothing, houses, stock market, retirement, beauty, strength, etc. These are not necessarily wrong, it is wrong when they become our primary care. Mark 4:19 adds an interesting phrase, “cares of the world, deciefulness of riches, and the desires for other things.”
Deceitfulness of riches - Riches will satisfy, deliver me, fulfill me, bring me joy.
Jesus described the Kingdom Mentality in Matthew 5-7. Matt 6:24… you cannot serve God and money
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#4 Good - Transformed Heart - Abundant Fruit (vs 23)

Hear the word, Understand the Word, God uses the Word to produce fruit.
What did it produce... Fruit that endured… abundant fruit!
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Fruit
Inner Fruit - Galatians 5:22-23  - Attitude Fruit
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
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Outer Fruit – 1 John 3:9 Action Fruit
No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
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Teaching of Scripture
“bearing fruit in every good work” Col 1:10
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.” Gal 5:22-23
“reap some harvest among you” Rom 1:13
“sacrifice of praise, the fruit of [believer’s] lips” Heb 13:15
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Resolution

The problem is not in the sower, the seed, or the process, but in the condition of the soil
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· Hungry Heart - Consumes

While the path seed was immediately wasted, the hungry heart consumes whatever seed it is offered.
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· Kingdom Satisfied Heart - Convinced

The Good Soil knows that the word of God brings is all it needs…
completely convinced that Jesus and His Word are enough, no matter what or who may come.
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· Kingdom Seeking Heart - Confident

The Good Soil knows that what the word of brings is not only enough, but it is the one’s only treasure.
This person stands confident that all good things come from the father of lights.
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For the Ambassadors of the Kingdom

Kingdom rebirth depends upon GODs miraculous work in the heart of the hearers

Don’t lose hope… but do keep sharing

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Don’t change the message… but do be honest about Kingdom Life

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Don’t shrink back on the Word of God… but do be learning, memorizing, sharing, preparing

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For the Hearers 

Kingdom rebirth only occurs when the heart is ready to hear and see
Hear the Gospel
Not a self improvement plan, its not business decision, its not a means of making life better. Those are all lies, used by the enemy to keep the Word from penetrating your heart.
Its a rebirth plan…
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Understand the Reality
Everything in this world is shifted, deceiving, counterfeiting.
In this world, it seems that persecution and tribulation indicate that something is amiss. But in reality, it because the work of God is opposed
In this world, it seems that the most important things of life are those that you can spend, take pleasure in, be praised for. But in reality, the things of this world are used as idols and distractions by the Kingdom of Man to pull us away from God and His Word.
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