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00:00:01 [Applause] [Music] that same day jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it while all the people stood on the shore then he told them many things in parables saying a farmer went out to sow his seed as he was scattering the seed some fell along the path and the birds came and ate it up some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil it sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow but when the sun came up the plants were
00:00:54 scorched and they withered because they had no root other seed fell among thorns which grew up and choked the plants still other seed fell on good soil where it produced a crop 160 or thirty times what was sown whoever has ears let them hear the disciples came to him and asked why do you speak to the people in parables he replied because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you but not to them whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance whoever does not
00:01:41 have even what they have will be taken from them this is why i speak to them in parables though seeing they do not see though hearing they do not hear or understand in them is fulfilled the prophecy of isaiah you will be ever hearing but never understanding you will be ever seeing but never perceiving for this people's heart has become calloused they hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes otherwise they might see with their eyes hear with their ears understand with their hearts and turn
00:02:26 and i would heal them but blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear for truly i tell you many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not hear it listen then to what the parable of the sower means when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart this is the seed sown along the path the seed falling on rocky ground refers
00:03:12 to someone who hears the word and that once receives it with joy but since they have no root they last only a short time when trouble or persecution comes because of the word they quickly fall away the seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word making it unfruitful but the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it this is the one who produces a crop yielding a hundred
00:03:57 sixty or thirty times what was sown this is the word of the lord good morning fbc is indeed a privilege for me to be able to share god's word with you this morning today we are going to talk about the parable of the sower some have called it the parable of the source because that's really where the major focus is it's a popular story in the bible that most christians would be familiar with yet i believe it's a lesson that all of us should be reminded of every now and then and even though jesus explained the
00:04:32 parable it is sometimes misunderstood at the heart of it all is really about how we listen to the word of god and more importantly how we respond to it we will examine what parables are and why jesus used them and then within the story itself we will look at the soil the sower and the seed as we get started let us commit the time to our god in prayer let us pray dear heavenly father as we come to look into your word we pray lord that you open up our eyes our ears and our hearts illumine our minds
00:05:13 so that we may be able to understand what you are trying to teach us lord may you help me to be faithful to your word in jesus name we pray amen we have been through the book of matthew since the beginning of the year and by way of introduction i'd like to do a very brief recap of the context of our message now matthew and his account of the gospel sought to present jesus as the long-awaited messiah and king of israel this is evident from the very first verse of the book in the genealogy of jesus
00:05:53 matthew writes this is the genealogy of jesus the messiah the son of david the son of abraham here jesus is presented as the successor to the throne of king david signifying that he is the rightful heir to the throne matthew quotes more than 60 times from old testament passages to emphasize how christ is the fulfillment of all these promises and as king jesus is here to establish his kingdom on earth now the kingdom of heaven is therefore a recurring theme in matthew's gospel where the phrase the kingdom of heaven
00:06:32 occurs no less than 32 times the kingship of jesus and his kingdom is something i want you to keep at the back of your mind now in spite of all the prophetic fulfillments his authoritative teachings and all the miracles that jesus performed which proved who he was the jews represented by the scribes and the pharisees rejected their messiah that's because the jews were expecting their messiah to be this person on the left to usher in a physical kingdom they were expecting jesus to be a commander-in-chief to lead them to
00:07:10 topple the roman oppressors you can imagine how frustrating it must be for them to see the great powers that jesus possessed in performing all these miracles and not use them against the romans instead jesus came and speak humbly about being poor in spirit about mourning for their sins about being meek being merciful being a peacemaker and on top of that to expect persecution when it became clear that jesus wasn't going to do what they expected the jews started to entrap and discredit him you've heard in the past sermons how
00:07:54 they accused him of eating with sinners or violating the sabbath and even colluding with the devil when he healed people possessed by demons by the time we get to chapter 12 just before our text today the hatred of the pharisees against our lord has void over so that in chapter 12 verse 14 it says but the pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill jesus israel had rejected their king now this brings us to matthew 13. now from this point onwards note this there is a very distinct shift in how
00:08:35 jesus conducted his ministry he no longer spoke plainly to the jewish crowd like he did before as in the sermon on the mount in verse 34 of chapter 13 it says jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables he did not say anything to them without using parables so what is parable what is a parable and why did jesus start using it someone once defined a parable as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning it's a spiritual lesson told by using everyday phenomenon to impart truth to an audience
00:09:15 in this case the spiritual truths are about the secrets of the kingdom of heaven and by secret jesus meant that the knowledge was simply hidden and would now be revealed to those who place their trust in him but to those who reject him this truth will remain hidden so while parables bring spiritual truth about god's kingdom to jesus disciples the same stories are used to obscure the truth from unbelieving people like the pharisees the use of parable was therefore a judgment to those who have rejected
00:09:53 christ those who hungered to understand god's truth will always find jesus eager to explain every detail to them but those who hated the truth and didn't even bother to ask whatever little they know they would eventually abandon or suppress it this is how the bible describes unbelievers in romans god says people who suppress the truth by their wickedness since what may be known about god is plain to them because god has made it plain to them unbelievers are people who suppress the truth it was augustine of people and early
00:10:40 church fathers who wisely said i believe so that i may understand isn't it true from our own christian experience by god's grace we begin with childlike faith and basic understanding and as we hunger for god's word and submit humbly god reveals more and more to us understanding god's truth requires humility and trust now let us go to the first parable in chapter 13. now the parable of the sower or the source the story is pretty straightforward and anyone listening to the parable in those days would have been familiar with the
00:11:20 scene because unlike you and i you know who live in the city the setting in those days was an agricultural setting the parable began with the farmer sowing seeds an action that probably involved getting hands full of seeds and liberally scattering it on the surrounding farmlands the seed is felt on four different types of soil or ground the first type is what is described as the hardened soil this would be the pathways either lining the farms or cutting across it for travelers to get from one side of the
00:11:59 field to another over time the soil on these paths are so compacted that nothing can grow on them and soon the birds would come and eat up all the seeds the second type of soy is the rocky soy now this does not mean that there are rocks among the soil because any responsible farmer would have removed the rocks when he was cultivating the farm what the rocky soy is referring to is actually a shallow layer of soy on the ground that hides a bedrock of limestone or clay underneath so moisture is only found
00:12:39 near the surface all right and it's normally what we would call the topsoil okay seeds that land on such soil would start to germinate but soon the roots hit the solid rock underneath and since the roots cannot reach the moisture beneath the rock layer when the sun comes up the plant quickly dries up and wither away now the third type of soil is what we call the wheat wheaty soy now for all intents and purposes it looks like fertile ground that's deep rich and soft the farmer when preparing the ground
00:13:15 will probably have tried to pull out all the weeds but as any good gardener or people who have grass lawns would know it's hard to avoid leaving behind some roots of the wheat in the soil and so when the seeds land on weedy soy they soon germinate and start to sprout and grow feeding on the nutrients in the soil but guess what the weeds begin to sprout as well in fact they grow like wildfire and before long they would compete with a plant for a chance you know at absorbing the nutrients in the soil
00:13:53 they will soon overtake the good plant and choke it to death before it has a chance to bear fruit the final type of soil is the good soy properly cultivated plowed thoroughly weeded the results is plants that bear fruits some 34 64 and some 104 now let's pause here for a moment if you were in a crowd that day listening to jesus you'll probably be scratching your head wondering why is he giving a lesson on farming jesus didn't explain the parable to the masses if you didn't hear jesus explanation
00:14:33 you could fit any meaning into the story parables need to be explained in order for the original intended meaning to be understood now before jesus explained the parable to his disciples which includes other people besides the twelve disciples okay he said something very interesting in verse nine he says whoever has years let him hear now this seems like a strange statement isn't jesus stating the obvious what else are years used for if not for hearing no jesus is not merely making a casual observation
00:15:18 he was actually giving them a command you have the capacity to hear now you have the opportunity to hear now make it your responsibility to hear so jesus was asking his disciples then and us today to pay close attention to what he has to say in the parable the seed refers to the word of god and the sower is whoever preaches or shares the word of god or the gospel of jesus christ in the parable the sower and the seed are the same the main point of the parable is not that there's anything wrong with the
00:16:00 sower or his method of sowing neither is there anything wrong with the seeds the main point of the parable is that the different outcomes lies in the different conditions of the soil the soil represents the condition of the human heart and the type of response a person has towards the word of god each soy type represents a particular heart attitude towards the gospel of christ now the first type of soy the hardened soy represents the unresponsive heart these are people who hears the message about the kingdom
00:16:38 and does not understand it the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their hearts such people hear but do not listen they do not reflect on the meaning of the message they hear whenever you try to share the word of god with them it's like water off a duck's back we call it one year yin and one year out they are unresponsive inattentive indifferent and sometimes even hostile you probably have met people who doesn't care a thing for god how do hearts become hardened like this what the bible tells us in hebrews
00:17:19 right that a sinful unbelieving heart that turns away from god but encourage one another daily as long as it's called today so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness the bible tells us that hearts are hardened by the constant unrelenting traffic of sin these are the people who have embraced their sins so much they have started justifying them and they have allowed their sins to dial their hearing oh they do sometimes hear the word of god but they are unwilling to repent and give up their sins they so cherished
00:18:04 by the way these people may not be anti-religion some of them may even be in the church i can just imagine some teenagers who have been coming to our church with their parents since they were little even though they hear the word preached week after week it seems to have little bearing on their lives the moment they turn of age and leave home for higher education or for work you don't see them anymore now adults are not immune to the hardening of hearts some of you may be here to appease your believing wife or husband some of
00:18:43 you are in church because of a boyfriend or your girlfriend but the moment the preacher opens his mouth you tune out and your mind drifts off to a hundred different things that you could do on a sunday afternoon so the question is does the hardened heart describe you take heed how you hear the next type of soy the rocky soil represents the superficial or the shallow heart these are people who hear the gospel and immediately respond to it with great enthusiasm they love the promise of eternal life
00:19:21 and the idea of a warm and loving relationship with god filled with happiness and heartwarming fellowship but unfortunately it's a shallow kind of faith that has not counted the cost of discipleship they may look and behave like christians for a while and they too may be in church but when trials and persecutions come along they quickly give up their faith following the lord means being alienated from your families and friends sometimes it may mean being ridiculed or discriminated against if anyone comes to me and does not hate
00:20:04 his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes and even his own life he cannot be my disciples and whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples some people think that christianity comes with the promise of a stress-free plain sailing life god will solve all your problems they think but when the storms of life comes like sickness losing a job or some other form of adversity they give up on god now most of us have faced tough times during this pandemic
00:20:50 we can respond in one of two ways for the real christian trials can come and be a time of molding our character and driving us closer to god and fellow believers on the other hand they may cause resentment and bitterness for those with a shallow faith blaming god for our situations i wonder how many of our regular worshippers have stopped attending church since the pandemic started take heed how you here now the third type of soy the weedy soy represents the worldly heart this refers to people who hears the word
00:21:36 and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becomes unfruitful these are the people who like the second type of soy show early promise of understanding and receiving the word of god indeed they may look as if they are flourishing and on a surface very much a part of the church but inside another type of seed is growing these are the real ambitions of the heart that cares only for the things of the world careers fame fortune a big house the latest trend in fashion prestige even hobbies
00:22:16 and all the trappings of the rich and famous in short these are the ones who are preoccupied to make it big in the world and if they themselves can't make it big in the world they expect their children to do so also they show some potential for growth but they never bear any fruit they are uncommitted and preoccupied with their worldly pursuits and pleasures instead of planning their life around serving god they plan their life around their money-making ventures and their leisure activities or whatever fancies
00:22:53 they have embraced now there was a time in evangelical christianity that the term carnal christian was frequently used you know this was used to describe a person who has put their faith in christ but has never really matured hobbling as it were towards the gates of heaven in other words people think there is a special class of christians who having received the gifts of salvation can then go on and live life as they please today connor christians have come in the guise of another banner called hyper
00:23:31 grace god has forgiven you and it doesn't matter anymore what you do once you have said your sinner's prayer or sign on a card you can do pretty much whatever you will please beloved that is a lie the bible is very clear no man can serve two masters matthew tells us in chapter 6 24 no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and money in romans it says for to be carnally minded is death
00:24:21 but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the karna mind is what is enmity with god for it is not subject to the law of god nor indeed can be so then those who are in the flesh cannot please god you remember the story of the rich young ruler it wasn't that jesus had anything against people who are rich or well blessed materially jesus knew what was in the young man's heart and it is this he wasn't prepared to have jesus replace his riches as having top priority in his life he wasn't willing to give up his riches
00:25:04 his comforts or his pleasures in order to follow jesus following jesus involves counting the cost take heed how you here now the last type of soy is what we would refer to as the good soy or the submissive heart when the seed of god's word falls on the good soil it germinates grows flourishes and eventually bear fruit some 30 some 60 and some 100 foals so it's unmistakable these are genuine believers genuine believers will always bear fruits it may not be immediate it may not be obvious and it may take time
00:25:50 but they will eventually become evident that's because seeds that fall on good soil we have roots that sink deep to draw water and nutrients and when you have deep roots the plant is not easily swayed by the storms and the wind fruit then is the true mark of salvation isn't having a good harvest of fruits the whole point about farming and that's the main point of the parable of the sower jesus is drawing a clear distinction between the two citizens of the kingdom on the one hand and on the other those
00:26:29 who either reject the kingdom or pretend to be a citizen the story is told to help us test ourselves if we are inside or outside the invisible kingdom of god who possessed the fruit of the spirit is it not the only is it not only true believers that can experience the indwelling of the holy spirit and therefore manifest its fruit the bible says the fruit of the spirit is what love joy peace forbearance kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control these are the things that we live by in
00:27:09 the power of the spirit now if you have a durian tree and it doesn't bear fruit after 5 7 or 10 years what do you do it's no good it's not fit for purpose and you cut and you chop it off now listen to what jesus says in john chapter 15. i am the vine you are the branches if you remain in me and i in you you will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing if you remain in me and my words remain in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you verse 8 this is my father's glory that you bear much fruit
00:27:57 showing yourself to be what to be my disciples fruit bearing is a mark of true discipleship so clearly of the four types of soy or hearts only the good soy and the submissive heart which bear fruit represents the true disciple of christ true conversion starts with a heartfelt conviction that you are a sinner in need for forgiveness that only jesus can give and then it continues with a lifetime of obedience and submission of his rule over your life now it doesn't mean that christians will not fall or stumble along the way
00:28:42 or that you are free from sin but what it does mean is that surely and gradually your desire to please god will increase and as you grow you will yield your life more and more in obedience to god's will now j.c rao the english evangelical anglican bishop made this comment of those who bear fruit sin will truly be hated moan over resisted and renounced christ will be truly loved trusted followed and obeyed the person with a submissive heart is one who does not just let the word of god bounce off her head or sit on the
00:29:27 surface of of the heart she embraces the word of god deep in her heart process it and apply it in obedience in other words true faith is characterized by commitment true faith will generate good works now notice the order i'm not saying that salvation is the results of good works i'm saying that good works is a consequence or result or evidence of true saving faith is your hearing bearing you the desired fruits take heed how you hear now let's move on to the sober as mentioned the sower is any person who
00:30:12 preaches god's word or the good news of jesus christ now our lord jesus himself was the chief sower because he led by example when it comes to evangelism going into the synagogues and all throughout galilee in order to preach the kingdom of god there are a few things i think we can learn right from the sower first thing is the sower sows his seeds generously and scatters them liberally it would almost seems that he is careless about who he gives the seeds to all types of soil get it and here lies the attitude of the sower
00:30:53 we all must engage in this all-important activity sharing the gospel to all types of people irrespective of their race their color or their background as paul commanded timothy preach the word in season and out of season we are to share the word irrespective of the outcome now the second point is this and it is a very sobering message if taken at face value your success rate in evangelism is not an encouraging picture at all many people that you share the gospel with will not be converted statistically speaking is one out of
00:31:37 four one of them will reject your message outright two will be pretenders and only one will be genuine now of course i'm not suggesting that that's the exact ratio in reality and each category may be more or less but what i can say for sure is that true genuine penetrant conversion will be fueled how do i know well jesus himself said so in matthew chapter 7 remember jesus said enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it
00:32:21 by contrast small is the gate and narrow is the road that leads to life and what only a few find it furthermore jesus said not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but only who only those who does the will of my father who is in heaven those who are obedient to the will of the father many who think they are christians may be surprised when the lord rejects them because they had not borne any fruits of repentance true believers are indeed the minority now while that may be a
00:33:11 sobering thought the parable of the soils also leave us with some encouragement to those who faithfully sow the seeds of the gospel genuine conversion has nothing to do with your eloquence or your ability conversion has to do with the condition of an individual's heart which you have no control over only god has control over those hearts the lord of the harvest can plow and break up even the hardest ground the bible is full of examples of hearts that has been changed matthew was one of them he was a tax collector
00:33:49 a person despised by the jews because they worked for the roman oppressors to exact a huge tax burden on his own people paul a pharisee and a persecutor of the church was another example hearts can change do you remember jesus remark after his encounter with a rich young man he said it's easier for a camera to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god in matthew 19 where the story is told when the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished and asked who then can be saved
00:34:33 jesus looked at them and said with men this is impossible but with god all things are possible to the remnant of israel in the old testament god promised through the prophet ezekiel i will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you i will remove you from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh that's the foreshadowing of what god can do for his people in the new covenant god can give us a new heart last prominent feature of the parable of the of the sower is the seed the seed as we have already mentioned
00:35:22 is the word of god now seed bears a unique quality that it cannot be you know in that it cannot be manufactured only reproduce from the fruit where it comes from and so it is with the word of god it's not it's not a product of human uh imagination or human ingenuity is given by god now the preaching of god's word is the means by which god draws people into his kingdom for everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved how then can they call on one they have not believed in and how can they believe the one whom
00:36:04 they have not heard and how can they hear without someone preaching to them consequently faith comes from hearing and the message is heard through the word of christ today there's a temptation among evangelical christians to dilute the gospel in order to make it more seeker friendly and more appealing to unbelievers ministry that employs marketing techniques to ensure people come to church are comfortable and that they leave church on a high and so it's not surprising to find church services employing the latest
00:36:50 show business techniques having the latest in stage lighting and long music and entertainment entertainment but short on preaching the word itself and even when there is preaching is often reduced to a 15-minute tech talk which focuses on a heaven on blessings and joy forget about sin forget about repentance and god forbid that we should even mention the word hell and if you have to say it de-emphasize it focus on what god can give you in terms of health and prosperity preachers to celebrities come on stage
00:37:28 dressed in the latest designer fashion and thousand dollar sneakers and guess what it works we see thousands flocking to mega churches that offer instantaneous healing mood lighting emotive music and an uplifting talk that sounds more like a motivational speech than a sermon is it any wonder that the church is filled with hardened shallow and so-called worldly christians paul was very clear when he wrote in romans 1 16 for i am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of god that brings salvation to everyone who
00:38:07 believes first to the jew then to the gentiles brothers and sisters may we always be found preaching and sharing the unadulterated word of god now in conclusion jesus tells the parable of the sower in order to help individuals test whether or not they are truly in his kingdom today more than ever before we are privileged to have god's word in our hands we have the bible that contains the whole council of god we have preachers and teachers to explain the mysteries of the kingdom of god to us week in and week out we have alpha beta
00:38:48 gamma we have live groups we have internet e-books online videos audio sermons it's not lack of opportunity it's how we hear what type of soil or heart do you have today is it the hardened the shallow or the weedy soils or is it the soil that would allow the seed to grow and bear much fruit now at the beginning of the sermon i mentioned that matthew in his account of the gospel presented jesus as king ushering his kingdom on earth a king rules over the subjects or citizens of his kingdom and is obvious from the parable
00:39:32 that not all are willing to submit to his kingship or rule not the first type first three types of heart so if you consider yourself to be in the kingdom the question is are you living in submission to his rule is jesus king on the throne of your heart the seed is the word of god do you know who is also called the word with a capital w yes jesus is also called the word in john chapter 1 in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god jesus came not only as a messenger to
00:40:18 deliver the message of salvation he himself is the message all that you ever need to be in a right relationship with god is found in jesus life his work his death resurrection and in his teachings do you have that word firmly entrenched in your heart and manifested in the way that you live in concluding i'd like to offer us three questions to test if we are citizens of christ's kingdom three very practical questions and it's sometimes uh you know all of us including myself all right we have to ask
00:41:04 do you hunger after god's word meaning do you read the bible regularly and love it do you desire to be in god's presence in worship at prayer meetings in your quiet time and number three do you look forward to the company of your fellow citizens if we can't honestly say yes to all of these questions then i think we should search our hearts and reflect on where we stand in our relationship with jesus christ let us all take heed how we here let us pray dearly father i thank you for your word and the
00:41:55 message of the gospel which is your power unto salvation we acknowledge that apart from you we cannot be saved have mercy upon us for those of us whose heart has been hardened may you use your plow of grace and mercy to till it thoroughly so that we may be able to receive your word if our affection for you is them and we find ourselves yearning for the things of the world lord we pray that you change our hearts so that we may turn towards you lord grant us years that we may truly hear in jesus name we pray
00:42:39 amen now if the spirit of god has touched your heart and you want to pray with somebody please send pray to the zoom chat below your screen or if you want to know more about our lord jesus christ or you have a prayer request or you'd like to attend one of our adult education programs like alpha or beta or you would like to join a live group please scan this qr code and you'll receive the relevant information
