The Book of Luke
James J. Barker


Lesson 20
THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Text: LUKE 8:1-15


INTRODUCTION:


  1. A parable (8:4) is apparently an imaginary story, yet one that in its details could have actually happened -- for example, the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) or the parable of the Pharisee and the publican praying in the temple (Luke 18:9-14), etc.
  2. A parable is a teaching device. The purpose of the story is to illustrate and inculcate some important spiritual truth.
  3. Many of us wonder how is it that certain people can come to church week after week and not get genuinely converted. Notice I said "genuinely converted." Some make professions of faith in Christ but their behaviour indicates that they were never genuinely saved.
  4. Some people make professions, and we see evidence in their lives that they are truly born again. On the other hand, there are others who show little or no evidence of a genuine conversion.
  5. The parable of the sower helps us to understand the difference between those who are truly saved and those who are not.
  6. In Matthew 13:37 we are told that the sower is the Lord Jesus Christ.
  7. During His absence we are to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. This is God’s program for this age (cf. Matt. 28:18-20).
  8. The seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11).
  9. The soil represents four types of hearers:

The way side (8:5).
A rock (8:6).
Thorns (8:7).
The Good Ground (8:8).


  1. THE SOWER
  2. THE SEED
  3. THE SOILS

 

I. THE SOWER

  1. In Matthew 13:37, our Lord said to His disciples, "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man."
  2. Every Christian is to sow the precious seed of God's Word.
  3. Psalm 126:5, 6 says, "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
  4. "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy..." Are you broken-hearted over lost sinners dying and going to hell?
  5. One time, two Salvation Army preachers set out to start a new work, only to meet with failure and opposition. Frustrated and tired they appealed to General Booth to close the rescue mission. General Booth sent back a telegram with two words on it, "TRY TEARS." They followed his advice and they soon saw a mighty revival.
  6. I have been reading a biography of William C. Burns, the great 19th century revivalist and missionary. He was an evangelist in Scotland, and then went to China as a missionary, and worked for a while with Hudson Taylor.
  7. One day, his mother had gone in to Glasgow, unknown to him, on an errand, and was walking down the street, when she saw him turn the corner in front, and advance slowly towards her from the opposite direction as in deep thought.
  8. Though she walked right up to him, he was quite unconscious of her presence, and thought he was in a dream. “O mother,” said he with deep emotion, “I did not see you: for when walking along Argyle Street just now, I was so overcome with the sight of the countless crowds of immortal beings eagerly hasting hither and thither, but all posting onwards towards eternity, that I could bear it no longer."
  9. Are you burdened for the "countless crowds" of sinners eagerly hastening hither and thither, all heading towards eternity?
  10. We must get the Gospel out! The apostle Paul said, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase" (I Cor. 3:6).
  11. Our Lord said, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few" (Matthew 9:37).
  12. Our Lord said, "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest" (John 4:35).

 

II. THE SEED

  1. "The seed is the Word of God" (Luke 8:11).
  2. First Peter 1:23 says, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." The Word of God is God's incorruptible seed!
  3. This seed has life -- it "liveth and abideth for ever." Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is quick (alive), and powerful..."
  4. The Word of God not only has life; the Word of God gives life. "Being born again...by the word of God" (I Peter 1:23).
  5. The Word of God quickens; it brings revival. Three times the Psalmist said, "Quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word" (Psalm 119:25, 107, 154).

 

III. THE SOILS

  1. First, there is seed that "fell by the way side" (8:5). This is hard ground -- a hard-trodden path across the field. Spiritually, this describes how the hearts of sinners are hardened by evil influences. We are surrounded by hardened sinners.
  2. The truth is heard, but the seed lies only on the surface, and does not take root. We think of Felix the governor. Acts 24:25 says the apostle Paul "reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," and Felix trembled, and answered, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee."
  3. I do not think Felix's "convenient season" ever came. The Bible says, "Behold, now is the accepted (acceptable) time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (II Cor. 6:2).
  4. King Agrippa said to Paul, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian" (Acts 26:28).
  5. P.P. Bliss wrote the great Gospel song, "Almost Persuaded."

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;
“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say,
“Go, Spirit, go Thy way,
Some more convenient day
On Thee I’ll call.”

 

“Almost persuaded,” come, come today;
“Almost persuaded,” turn not away;
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are ling’ring near,
Prayers rise from hearts so dear;
O wand’rer, come!

 

“Almost persuaded,” harvest is past!
“Almost persuaded,” doom comes at last!
“Almost” cannot avail;
“Almost” is but to fail!
Sad, sad, that bitter wail—
“Almost,” but lost!

  1. The seed that fell by the way side was "trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it" (Luke 8:5). These fowls represent Satan and his messengers (Luke 8:12). They hinder souls from being saved (8:12b).
  2. Matthew 13:19 says, "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. This is he which received seed by the way side." The devil keeps busy hindering us.
  3. Notice that our Lord says in Matthew 13:19, "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not…" The problem here is that many people do not understand the Gospel.
  4. For example, "works-salvation" has been drilled into peoples’ minds by the RCC, by the Jews, by unscriptural churches, by the Masons, by the cults, and so on; therefore people do not understand the Gospel.
  5. Our Lord said, they "understandeth it not" (Matt. 13:19).
  6. The devil will do everything he can to hinder God’s work. Our Lord said, "..then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart" (Matt. 13:19; cf. Luke 8:12).
  7. "Catcheth away" means by force. We are in a fierce battle.
  8. Some seed fell upon a rock (Luke 8:6). Here we have a thin layer of soil on top of hard rock. "And as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture" (8:6b; cf. 8:13).
  9. Our Lord said in Luke 8:13, "They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away."
  10. This shallow soil means "no root" (8:13). This shallow soil represents shallow hearts and shallow professions -- superficial, emotional, but with no depth of conviction.
  11. Too many people get all caught up in their feelings -- "no root."
  12. A.T. Pierson said: "Fact, faith, feeling -- this is God's order. Satan would reverse this order and put feeling before faith, and thus confuse the child of God."
  13. Facts -- It is a fact that God loves sinners, and that Jesus died on the cross to save sinners (John 3:16). Heaven and hell are real.
  14. Faith -- to put our complete trust in the finished work of Christ (John 3:16).
  15. Feeling -- our feelings are changeable, and can be very deceptive. We feel good on a beautiful sunny day, but not as good on a damp, rainy day.
  16. I have seen people come forward at the invitation crying, but when I went to see them two days later they were cold and indifferent.
  17. H.A. Ironside said, "It is generally an evidence of shallowness when people who have known no real exercise about their sins profess to receive the message of the gospel with gladness. God’s way is to wound that He may heal (Deuteronomy 32:39). Men need to see their need in order to appreciate the remedy. It is a great mistake to try to lead souls to make a profession of faith in Christ who have never known what it is to face their sins in the presence of God. This is the root-cause of much of the falling away after so-called 'revivals,' where many, under emotional stress, or over-persuasion, have made a profession of faith, but with no conscience-exercise or repentance."
  18. In Matthew 13:20 and 21, our Lord said "he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended."
  19. When the heat is turned up, they are "scorched" (Matthew 13:6) and they "wither away" (Luke 8:6). They "lack moisture" (Luke 8:6).
  20. They "lack moisture" (Luke 8:6) means the Holy Spirit was not in it.
  21. Because of "persecution" (Matthew 13:21) and pressure from unsaved friends and relatives, they abandon their profession of faith.
  22. I do not think that a true Christian will cave into pressure from unsaved friends and family. He may temporarily but if he or she is saved they will take their stand for the Lord.
  23. Then there is the seed which fell among thorns (8:7, 14). Like the seed that fell upon the rock, there appears to be some outward growth, but soon it is "choked" with the cares and riches and worldly pleasures of this life, "and bring no fruit to perfection (maturity)" (8:7, 14).
  24. The apostle Paul said, "For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world" (II Timothy 4:10).
  25. I have seen many people come and go through our church. And I think the number 1 reason many of them do not stay is because they are looking for an easy-going, no-commitment type of Christianity.
  26. Finally...there is the good soil. "And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold" (Luke 8:8, 15).
  27. The effect of the seed is dependent upon the state of the soil (i.e. the hearer), not on the Sower (our Lord) or the seed (the Word of God).
  28. The seed is always good and life-giving. But some soil is hard. The fault lies with the hearers, not with the Sower or the seed.

 

CONCLUSION:


  1. It is not as clear here in Luke's account, but in Matthew 13, we see...
  1. Some seed fell by the way side (13:4)
  2. Some seed fell upon stony places (13:5)
  3. Some seed fell among thorns (13:7)
  4. But other fell into good ground... (13:8)
  1. W.H. Griffith Thomas said, "Let us therefore heed not only -- what we hear -- Gospel message...but also -- how we hear -- simply, sincerely, sympathetically, surrendering lip and life, personality and possessions. The Word of God must be received and retained" (Outline Studies in Luke).


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