Soldier of Christ Disciple Training Ministries
A ministry of Acts III Global Ministries – USA & Malawi – www.God.mw
Lesson 105 – The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven – Part 5
This Parable of the Sower is found in three Gospels. Each adds a little unique information. So to save space, I have combined the three without changing any of the original meanings. Individually the accounts are from Mark 4:3-9; Luke 8:5–8; and Matt 13:3–9. Here is the combination:
The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up. Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. And after it grew up, the sun had risen, and it was scorched and it withered away, because it had no moisture and because it had no root. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up with it and choked it, and it yielded no crop. Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and some produced thirty, some sixty, and some a hundredfold.
Now, before any human commentary is added, let us first see how Jesus Christ explained the parable. Again, the three different accounts of His answer are combined to gain as much insight as possible. These are combined from Mark 4:14-20; Luke 8:11-15; and Matt 13:18–23.
And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? Now the parable is this: the sower sows the seed, and the seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who hear the word of the kingdom and do not understand it; then immediately the devil comes and takes away the word that has been sown in their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. In a similar way, the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. They believe for a while, but because they have no firm root in themselves; they are only temporary. When affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. Others in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard the word, but as they go on their way the word is choked with worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches and pleasures of this life, and the word becomes unfruitful and brings no fruit to maturity. But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart and understand it and accept it, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance and brings forth a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
Now we must ask ourselves a few basic questions to fully understand this parable and its explanation:
1) What is it about? - Very simply, this parable is teaching about true and false salvations. It teaches us how to recognize and discern true and false converts. Even more than that, to true Christians, it is a message and a warning about how to sow seeds as will soon be discussed in detail.
2) Who are the sowers? - The Sowers are Evangelists, Preachers and any other person that shares the gospel (or some form of the gospel) with the lost. It is as much of a message to message to the sowers as it is to the lost. We are the ones taking the Word of God and scattering it abroad in different places.
3) Who are the types of soils? - The different soil types are four different types of individuals. The individual type is dependant on their heart conditions. These people are of four different categories that are separated based on how well the word of God is received by each. What we shall soon uncover is that some have a hard heart that is not ready for the Gospel; some hear the wrong or incomplete Gospel, the third grouping hears the correct Gospel but have failed to count the cost, and the fourth hears, understands and lives the Gospel.
4) How does it apply to us? - How it applies to us depends on which category we ourselves are in. Some of us are lost and in need of the message. Some are living a lie deceiving themselves and the Truth is not in them. These will need to determine that for themselves. Others, the ones bearing fruit, need to be mindful of the dangers of a watered down Gospel so as to increase their harvest and not be the cause of stumbling in any.
5) What does it have to do with unlocking the rest of the parables? - What we will see is that the other parables have to do with the same subjects…separation of the Real from the fake. Most of the parables taught in the Bible are assumed to be speaking of separation of just the ordinary lost from the saved. If we understand this parable first, we will see that the others are instead talking about separation of the Real Children of God from the Fake Children.
Let us now see f we can decipher the mystery of the Key to All Parables. We will begin with a type by type look at the combined story and Jesus’ explanation as written above.