Today we will take a look at how Jesus trained His disciples. This is sort of Jesus' basic training program. We are going to look at some of the key things that Jesus taught them that is foundational to effective ministry. I really think they are the basic matters we need to understand to be useful in the work of the Lord.
Now first of all, Jesus trained His disciples in a understanding of the KINGDOM MISSION. What we are really to be all about. Now open your Bibles to the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 13 & I want to look at a parable that is very familiar to us & yet has proven to be somewhat confusing to folks & that is the parable of the soils in chapter 13.
I want to dispense for the sake of time with any of the preliminary treatment of the context & step right into the parable which stands alone.
In verse 3 our Lord begins at the end of the verse by saying, "Behold, a sower went forth to sow."
Now this is a very common scene in the time of our Lord, one which people would be very familiar with & not much of what He said would come as a surprise to them......It is a little more difficult for us if we are not use to an agrarian type of life style & can't identify with these things but for them it was very very simple. For some of you who were raised on farms or who work farms, it may also be very very simple.
The sower would walk the rows of a prepared field & he would throw seed & that basically is the scene that our Lord draws the Spiritual truth out of. I might also mention that at the scene here, where the Lord is teaching, it may well have been that the people could look off in the distance & see this very activity going on.
The broadcasting of seed, the scattering of seed, in preparing to sow, ..... that the crop might be harvested. Now as the parable opens up...we find that when the sower sows, his seed drops into different kinds of soil, we will just look at those as we begin to go down thru the parable itself & first of all in verse 4...."and when he sowed..some fell by the wayside & the birds came & devoured them".... First of all when you walk down the row you have to recognize that throwing seed by hand means there will be a little bit of imperfection in the ultimate end. In other words you cannot perfectly throw seed. So some of the seed would bounce up on the path, the beaten path that goes along side of the field...
We find in other places in the Gospel record that the disciples passed thru the field, you remember the Pharisees accosted them one time & said they were sinning because they were eating with unwashed hands, grain which they had plucked in walking thru the fields.
The fields were crissed-crossed & traversed by beaten paths & that's how people moved about the country, so along side the cultivated field would be an uncultivated narrow strip, usually about 3' wide, just wide enough for people to walk & perhaps an animal & that was the place where the side might easily fall, especially when the sower was sawing the soil along side that path, it could bounce up & land on the path.
Now as a result of that, birds would come along, and you can be sure that where there was a sower, there was a little covey of birds flying behind him....That's not too hard to imagine is it.....seeking the seed, they would fly along behind him & when the seed would fall on the beaten path it would be readily available for them to pick up & to devour...
In the Gospel of Luke we find where the same parable occurs it says that what the birds didn't get was crushed under the feet of the people who were traversing that path.
Now a second kind of soil is described for us in verse 5 ....rocky soil....some fell on rocky places. Now the idea here is not the idea that there were rocks on the surface, any farmer worth his salt would be sure to have plowed up all the rocks that he could find. But there is a heavy limestone under-soil in the land of Israel & very often that comes within inches of the top of the ground. Not close enough in some places that the plow would detect it, but immediately under where the plow find it furrow, there will be a hard soil. ....a rocky ground. Unknown to the farmer. And so some of the seed falls on that rocky ground & it doesn't have much earth ... there is only a thin layer of good earth ... and immediately it springs up.
The reason it springs up immediately of course is that the water & the sunlight & the warmth of the soil & the nutrient in the soil rushing itself into the seed when it decomposes sends the seed's product upward because it cannot go downward. So this is the one that looks like it really going to be a great plant. A great crop. Because all its energy is thrust upward. Because there is not depth of earth.
However, when the sun comes out, it is scorched, and Luke says in 8:6 that it has no moisture, & the reason is because the roots can't penetrate the rocks to get down to where the water is. And so because there is no moisture, no root, it withers away.
And then as the sower goes along & sows he throws some that falls among, as vs.7 says, "Weeds", some text say thorns.
But it is a better rendering to understand this to be weeds & the weeds spring up & choke out the seed & we all know that weeds grow better than anything else and where you have the remnants and the roots of weeds in the ground, even though you cut off the tops & tried to cultivate the soil, if there is still those roots of weeds they will flourish when you attend to the growing of the good seed, & will eventually choke out that good seed.
So when you sow seed you could possibly be throwing seed on 3 kings of bad soil...HARD SOIL....STONY SOIL...& WEEDY SOIL.
There are 3 kinds of good soil.
The parallel is evenly divided. In vs.8 it says there is some good ground. Some that is so good it brings 100 fold & some so good it brings forth 60 fold & some so good it brings forth 30 fold.
A 3,000, 6,000, 10,000 percent, an abnormally great harvest is discussed.
Now what we learn here is a very simple thing & every farmer in the time of the Lord would know it. As he goes along & throws his seed it is very reasonable to assume that no matter how well he does his job & no matter how excellent the seed might be, the product will depend on the nature of ...WHAT...
THE SOIL
And I want you to understand that because it is one of the most profound & helpful insights you will ever have into the mission that you've been given as a citizen of the KINGDOM. It is essential to understand this & that is why verse 9 says, "If you have ears.." You better WHAT? .... You better HEAR!
Now this is part of Jesus' basic training. This is something every disciple of Christ ought to know. This is something we have to know if we are to be effective for CHRIST. The tendency, no doubt, in the life of a disciple.....one who has come to faith in Jesus Christ .... because of the thrill & exhilaration & the joy...those early moments, those early days & weeks are filled with running to everyone you know to pour out the Gospel to them.
Feeling they will instantly respond to it because of what you just experienced, and the disciples were no doubt in the same kind of trap.
Believing that now that they have come to know the things that they had come to know, it would be marvelous news and they would run out to tell everyone & people would immediately respond & our Lord says look, I've got to tell you something. To start with, you're going to throw the seed, but you're going to find there are differing kinds of soil..... And we need to understand this..... It is a very helpful prescription.
Now verse 10-17 is a section where the Lord talks about the privilege of able to understand this.....the privilege of being a child of the King. The privilege of being one that receives the knowledge of the mysteries of the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN that are not given to the unregenereth.
Blessed are your eyes...vs.16 says, and blessed are your ears & in vs.17 He says because you are able to understand things that others have never been able to understand, therefore, vs. 18 says, listen to the parable of the sower....
So let's do that. Now we could ask the question first of all, "WHO'S THE SOWER?" What's the answer. There is no answer in the parable. So we conclude that the sower is anyone who does WHAT? SOWS................that's good.
The sower is anyone who sows. It's an undefined sower here. Anyone who sows.
It could be the Lord Himself. he certainly was the sower of seeds. In fact in another parable in the same chapter it says that he who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. But we don't want to interpret the data in one parable by the data in another. That is homileticly unacceptable. So we stay here. It could be the Lord but it is anybody who sows the seed.
Anyone who repeats the message of Christ. And what is the message of the KINGDOM? What is the message of CHRIST? It is the message of SALVATION. It is the message of salvation by Grace thru faith.
It is the message of salvation by grace thru faith that ushers you into the KINGDOM OF LIGHT. The KINGDOM OF LIFE. The KINGDOM OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Now, WHAT IS THE SEED????
What is the seed? That's fairly obvious. It says in vs.19, "when anyone hears the Word of the Kingdom." In Luke 8:11 it says, "The seed is the Word of God". So the seed is the Gospel. The saving Word----the Word about entrance into the Kingdom by grace thru faith.
For this is the constantly ringing message of Matthew....that Christ is come to offer a Kingdom & that Kingdom is.....first & foremost & immediately spiritual...It is salvation.
And it is the message of salvation....it is the word of redemption, that is the message of the KINGDOM and so anybody who SPREADS the MESSAGE of SALVATION is a SOWER who SOWS SEEDS.
Now we are going to find out about the SOIL.
WHAT DOES THE SOIL REPRESENT?
vs.19 again....When anyone hears the WORD OF THE KINGDOM. So, what is the SOIL? Someone who WHAT??? WHO HEARS!!!And down a little further in vs.19 it says, "That which was sown in his......WHAT? In his HEART!!
So the soil then is the one who hears the message of salvation ....the message of the KINGDOM OF LIGHT------the message of redemption being given by any believer. .... ANYONE WHO SOWS THE SEED...
Now what about the KINDS OF SOIL? Let's look at them. First of all I want you to notice the WAYSIDE HEARER.
Still in vs.19, this is a marvelous insight. When anyone hears .... the Word of the Kingdom .... and doesn't understand it .... or doesn't comprehend it .... doesn't meditate on it ..... doesn't allow it into their understanding ..... IN OTHER WORDS IT SETS ON THE SURFACE .... then came the wicked one!!!
WHO IS THAT? Satan--- snatches away what was sown in his heart ..... This is he who receives seed by the wayside ... this is the fool of Proverbs, isn't it, who says in his heart, "what, there is no God" .... this is the fool who rejects wisdom. (Proverbs ch.1)
This is the one who is not interested in even considering the Gospel. So here you have in one simple profound picture the image of the resistant heart ....The heart that has been trampled & hardened by the mixed multitude of sins day after day after day after day.....
It is not fenced in. It is not protected. It is not nurtured. It is not plowed up. It is not broken. It just lays exposed & unprotected & is never broken up by CONVICTION ..by REPENTANCE....by SELF SEARCHING....It is callose & the Gospel just sits on the surface.... In fact the OT would call this kind of person stiffed necked & "WHAT"?? HARD HEARTED
The seed is good, isn't it? And the sower is doing his work. But this is the person whose mind is SHUT .... And what you want to remember is that they are there. They are out there. I mean Jesus said it didn't He in Matthew chapter 7. "The way to the KINGDOM is WHAT? --- NARROW ---- and WHAT? --- few there be that find it"
So we will run into this commonly. People who are absolutely indifferent & we find it hard to understand that --- don't we?
And we try to mustard all our very best arguments. To try to show not only the logic of it, but the joy of it. To try to show them the fear of it. That is to talk about hell & we still wonder why it is that they still don't respond!!!
And we look at an illustration later in Matthew & our Lord giving another story about a man who owned a vineyard. You remember. And he let the vineyard out to people to operate it & then he sent back his messengers to collect what was due. And they killed the messengers & finally he sent his son & they did what to him? - KILLED HIM TOO. And He characterized the people that way didn't He? As those who were so resistant to the message that they MURDERED the messengers & ultimately murdered the son.
And there are people today who are just as resistant. Some of them are strong in their resistance & some of them are just absolutely indifferent. And when the Word just sits there it is snatched away. It can be snatched away by false teachers. It can be snatched away by the fear of man. It can be snatched away as the enemy uses things like PRIDE or ACCUSATIONS OF HYPOCRITES or doubt, or by the love of sin, or by stubbornness or procrastination ..... WHATEVER. But it is snatched away.
So remember this in your mission, when you throw seed, some of it will land on HARD GROUND.
Look secondly in vs.20 and we find the 2nd kind of SOIL. The STONY GROUND. He that received the seed and again obviously this speaks of the one who receives the message, in rocky places & hears the Word & immediately receives it with WHAT? With joy. I mean it just flourishes instantaneously... Immediately.
Now the joy here is not the JOY OF SALVATION. This is the joy apparently of emotionalism. This is the joy of excitement. This is the joy that never counts the cost. The WARM & FUZZIES.
This is the joy that comes to someone looking for a Panacea. This is the response to; "wouldn't you like Jesus to solve all your problems. Yes, where do I sign. Whow, I'll take it." This is the joy of somebody who thinks they got something the desperately need. To solve a real problem, and it really looks good.
I mean, look at the joy. Boy this is terrific. Here's a real convert. And you know in the back of your mind. You know that among the wheat there are going to be WHAT? TARES!! That among the TRUE there are going to be FALSE. And there are going to be short circuited people who come in & then bail right back out "& went out from us", John says, "Because they never were one of us."
And we know they are not legitimate because in vs.21 --- "There is no root" "There is no root". And so this person endures for a while & nothing is more evidential of an ingenuine believer than short term commitment. Jesus said in John 8, "If you continue in My Word, then are you my true follower."
Then there was the 3rd kind of soil here. You notice in vs.22. "He also that received seed among the weeds is the one who hears the Word" But pre-occupation with this present age... I mean, he's into the STUFF you know. He's into the WORLD & the deceitfulness of riches choked the Word and he becomes ....... WHAT'S THAT WORD? WHAT IS IT? UNFRUITFUL!!
You ought to underline that. It is the key to understanding the distinction in this parable. Now here is a person who hears & wants to respond, but can't pull himself apart from this age & the riches that deceive his soul.
And again this is a non-fruitful hearer. This is a non-productive hearer. The reception again looks good & the seed goes into the life & it looks like it's going to work & a plant comes up but it's a plant, ..... WHAT? .... Without fruit, just like the last plant was & people have got confused. They say if it's a plant, it must be TRUE SALVATION ... NO, the evidence of salvation is not the plant.
The evidence of SALVATION is the FRUIT in the parable.
And so here is the person, he's not a stupid fool like #1 and he is not a person of shallow emotion like #2. He's just a person who is a double minded man. He's a person who can't let go of the world. You cannot not serve God and money. Can you? No man can serve 2 masters. If your heart is filled with the world .... career, money, home, cars, prestige, it will crowd out the seed.
This is the pre-occupied heart. This is the opposite of the man who found the treasure in the field and sold all that he had. Salvation is an exchange of all that I am for all that He is!! Of all that I have for all that He has. Even though I might not fully understand that.
There are 3 final soils & we just mention them briefly because they are so obvious.
The one who received seed in the good ground is the one who hears the Word ... understands it ..... thinks on it ... meditates on it ... perceives it ... and also does WHAT? WHAT'S THE KEY? BEARS FRUIT!!
There is no such thing as a fruitless Christian. I mean you may have to look a long time to find a shrivelled up grape, BUT IT'S THERE ... IT HAS TO BE!!
And that's the reason why it says, "Your Father's will is that you BEAR MUCH FRUIT!!
Now let's face it. There are some Christians who are 100 fold, some who are 60 fold and some who are 30 fold.
I mean, we all have different spiritual capacities. But every Christian is fruitful. To one degree or another based on God given capacities. Let's face it, there are some Christians who, by virtue of the gifts of the Holy Spirit & the blessing of God are 100 fold Christians. Some are 60 & some are 30, but all of them BEAR FRUIT.
What's the point of this? Here's the point. Let's imagine this sower going down the line with this little pouch over his shoulder & the pouch is filled with seed & as he moves along down the line he throws that seed with great skill...he's been doing it all his life .... and let's imagine he's got a 5 year old son & he's made him a little pouch to fit him, and this 5 yr. old guy is walking behind him with his chubby little hand and little short fingers & he sticks his little fist in his little pouch and he throws seed and it goes everywhere.
You want to know something? It doesn't matter if the very skilled father threw the seed or the little boy-- - if it hits good ground .... WHAT HAPPENS ..... FRUIT.
Let me tell you what your mission is folks ..... are you ready for this?
THROW SEED
Did you get that? ..... You say, "I'm not very good" Throw it anyway.
BY ACCIDENT IT MAY HIT GOOD GROUND.
The issue is not the cleverness of the sower ..... It is the power of the seed and the preparation of the soil ... THE SPIRIT OF GOD PLOWS THE GROUND.
It is the work of every believer to throw the seed. If you fail, throw some more. When it hits good ground, it doesn't matter who threw the seed, there will be Fruit. The end product of Fruit is revival. Revived to do what? Revived to throw more seed.
Let's pray.
