Nov 23
19
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 6
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’ And he said, ‘Go, and say to this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.’ Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’ And he said: ‘Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the LORD removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.’ The holy seed is its stump.” (Isaiah 6, ESV)
New Testament Reading: Luke 8:4-15
“And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ‘A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.’ As he said these things, he called out, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:4–15, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
As many of you will remember, we considered this passage in the sermon that was delivered last Sunday. In that sermon, we considered this parable of Jesus about a sower who sows seed on various types of soil. The seed represents the word of God. The sower represents the one who preaches the word. The different types of soil – the hard compacted soil of the wayside, the rocky soil, the weedy soil, and the good soil – represent the different ways that people hear or receive God’s word. In that sermon, we gave special attention to the symbolism of the soils. The exhortation delivered to you was to tend to the garden of your soul – to have a heart that is soft and receptive towards God – one that is well-tilled, stone-free, and regularly weeded – so that you might receive with meekness the implanted word of God which is able to save your souls (James 1:22). Today we will consider this passage again, but this time we will give special attention to the sower and the seed.
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The Sower
First, let us consider the sower. Notice his surprising behavior. This sower casts his seed far and wide. He casts his seed indiscriminately. He casts his seed with what seems to be no concern at all for the condition of the soil upon which it falls. I say this behavior is surprising because farmers would typically be more careful with their precious seeds. If you and I lived in an agrarian society we would be immediately struck by the strange behavior of this sower of seed. We would ask the question, why is he being so careless? Why is he throwing his seed on soils that have not been prepared? Does he not know that the seed he throws on the path will be wasted? Does he not know that the seed he throws on the stony ground will spring up only for a while but will never bear fruit? Does he not know that the seed he throws on soil not previously cleared of weeds will be overrun? The sower of the seed in Jesus’ parable behaves surprisingly, and I think this is deliberate.
The sower, as you know, symbolizes the one who preaches the word of God. And preachers are to preach in the same way that this sower sowed his seed. Preachers must preach the word indiscriminately. They must cast the seed of the gospel of the kingdom everywhere with no concern for the condition of the soil upon which the word of God falls. Yes, they are to pray that God’s word would be received by men and women with good, soft, and fertile minds and hearts. But preachers must not be concerned with the condition of the hearts and minds of their hearers as they cast the seed of the gospel. The seed of the gospel is to be cast freely and indiscriminately.
The reason for this should be obvious. Firstly, we cannot see the condition of the hearts and minds of men. As heralds of God’s message of salvation, we are, in fact, blind to the condition of the souls of others. Those who appear to us to be soft and receptive may be hard as stone, whereas those who appear to be hard, may be soft to God and his word. Secondly, even if we could see that a person’s heart was hard and compacted, stony, or thorny, there is nothing we can do about it (except to pray). And so we are to simply proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to all who will listen (with their natural ears), leaving the preparation of the mind and heart of man to God, who alone can take a heart of stone to make it soft towards him (Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26).
I want you to notice that Christ preached like this. He proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom indiscriminately to all who came to him. In fact, our text begins with these words in 8:4: “And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ‘A sower went out to sow his seed’”, etc. At the end of this section we read in 8:8, “As he said these things, he called out, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 8:8, ESV).
These words, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”, show us that Christ knew that not all who heard him would hear him. Stated differently, Christ knew that not all who possessed the natural ability to hear his voice would have the ability to hear him inwardly, spiritually, and truly leading to the salvation of their souls. To use the imagery from our parable, Christ knew that many who listened to his preaching would listen to him with hearts and minds characterized by the soil of the wayside, the stony ground, and the soil choked by weeds. Yes, they heard him preach, but they did not have ears to hear him truly. Stated positively, as Christ preached to the multitudes, he knew that some would not only hear his voice in a natural way. Some would hear his voice inwardly and truly with understanding and receptiveness. They would take his word to heart and receive it by faith. To use the imagery of our parable, though Christ knew that much of the seed of the word of God that he cast upon the multitude would fall upon poor soil, he knew that some would fall upon good, soft, and receptive soil, and, by God’s grace, would bear fruit. It was to these that Christ called out saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
So you can see that Christ himself cast the seed of the word of God freely and indiscriminately as he preached. He did not aim at the good soil only. No, he preached to the multitudes as they came to him. And we should also see that Christ was, by his example and through this parable, training his Apostles to preach the gospel of the kingdom in the same way. This parable, you see, applies to the one who hears God’s word. By it, the hearer of God’s word is exhorted to hear in a good way! But this parable is also for the preacher of God’s word. You see, the preacher of God’s word is called to sow the seed of the gospel of the kingdom like Jesus did, liberally and without concern for the condition of the hearts and minds of those who listened. Those who preach the word must know for certain that those with ears to hear will hear.
In Luke 9 we are told about Jesus sending out the twelve Apostles to preach. Listen to the text: “And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal” (Luke 9:1–2, ESV). And in verse 6 we read, “And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere” (Luke 9:6, ESV). There is much to consider in these verses, and we will consider it all in due time. For now, I want you to see that the Apostles preached like Jesus did. They proclaimed the gospel freely and indiscriminately.
In Luke 10, seventy-two of Jesus’ disciples are sent out to preach, and the same may be said of these. They preached liberally. Some who heard them received their word. Many didn’t. And when their message was rejected, Christ instructed them to shake the dust off their feet as a testimony against them (Luke 10:11).
And we should not forget about Luke’s second volume, called the Acts of the Apostles. In that book, we are told all about the preaching ministry of Christ’s Apostles, including the Apostle Paul. And what do we find? They preached the gospel of the kingdom boldly and freely at every opportunity. They did not attempt to judge the condition of the hearts of men but cast the seed of the gospel on all who would listen, and they left the results to God.
Take, for example, Acts 13:44-52. There we are told about the preaching ministry of Paul and Barnabus. The text says, “The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, ‘It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,’ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’ And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 13:44–52, ESV)
Five things must be noted about this text. One, Paul and Barnabus preached the gospel like the sower in our parable. They cast the seed of the gospel far and wide, making no attempt to discern the condition of the hearts and minds of men. Two, when the gospel was rejected by some who were heard-hearted, Paul and Barnabus shook the dust from their feet as a sign against them and went on preaching to others. Three, humanly speaking it was those you would expect to receive the world who rejected it (the Jews), whereas those you would not expect to receive it (the Gentiles) were the ones who believed. Four, Luke interpreted the reception of the word of God by some in this way, saying, “and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48, ESV). This is the doctrine of election or predestination and effectual calling, to which we will return shortly. Five, this approach and this mindset made for happy preachers and a happy church. Despite the difficulty and the persecution, we are told that “the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 13:52, ESV).
As we return to our parable in Luke 8, I hope that you would agree that serves a dual purpose. The parable is both an exhortation to hear the word of God in a good way, and it is an exhortation to to proclaim the word of God in a good way. We are to from both the soils and the sower.
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The Seed
Let us now turn our attention to the seed. Jesus tells us in verse 11 that the seed in this parable represents the word of God. It is the gospel of the kingdom. It is the message contained in Holy Scripture. There are three things that I want you to notice about the seed.
First of all, the seed has within it the power to produce life and fruitfulness.
In the previous sermon, I mentioned my garden which is currently overgrown and in need of of some attention. I put some effort into that garden late last winter and in the early spring. I very much enjoyed the process of growing food from seed. In fact, I was fascinated by the process. On many occasions I held seeds in my hand – some large and some very small – and marveled at the thought that these little things have within them the power to grow into plants that we can eat to the nourishment of our bodies. These little seeds have life in them. Isn’t that incredible to consider? You can walk around with a whole garden in your pocket. Think of it. You can walk around your house with dozens of watermelons, butternut squashes, and zucchini in your pocket. I marvel over this. My family knows that I marvel over this because I would often make comments about it, especially as the seeds began to emerge in the starter trays and at the time of harvest. It is incredible to think of the power that is contained within a little seed. The seed has the power to produce fruit, to give life, and even to produce more seeds, so that the process may continue. As strange as it sounds, I would highly encourage you to buy some seeds so that you might hold one in your hand and ponder all of the life is contained within that little package. And then reflect on the seed of the gospel.
It is no wonder that Jesus chose the seed as a metaphor for the word of God. The gospel of the kingdom of God, that is to say, the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus the Messiah, is a small, simple message, that can be taken with you wherever you go, and yet it has within it the power to save, to give life eternal, and to produce a great harvest of fruit. Have you ever stopped to think about the power that is contained within the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ? The gospel message contains within it the power to make men and women right with God, to set them free from bondage to sin, to produce a holy and fruitful life, and to give eternal life to all who receive it by faith. Indeed, this is what Paul teh Apostle has famously said: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16, ESV).
The second thing that I want you to notice about seed is that it does not sprout and grow unless planted. There is great power contained within the seed, but it must be planted if its power is to be released. How convenient is this! A farmer can therefore store his seed and plant it at the right time. A traveler can take seed with him on his journey and he will not have a garden bursting out of his pack! He can plant the seed when he arrives at his destination. Natural seeds must be sown into the soil if they are to germinate and come to maturity. And so it is with the seed of the gospel. It must be sown to release its power. The gospel of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed, friends. It will do no good to keep it in our pocket. Yes, the word of God – the gospel of Jesus Christ – has within it the power to save. But it must be cast upon the soil of the souls of men if its power is ever to be released.
The third thing to notice about seed is that it must be planted in good soil if it is to reach maturity and produce fruit. The soil must be soft, and filled with nutrients and moisture if the seed is to germinate and grow to maturity. And in our parable, as it pertains to the seed of the word of God, this means that the good news of the kingdom of God must be received in the minds and hearts of men and women by faith. Does the seed of the gospel contain within it the power to save? Does it contain within it the power to grant the forgiveness of sins, to reconcile to God, and to give eternal life? Yes, but it must be truly received by those who hear it. Those who hear the word of God must take it in. They must believe the word of God. They must place their faith in the word of God and in the Christ who is offered to them therein. You see, the seed of the gospel, as powerful as it is, will not release its power unless it is received by faith into the good, soft, and fertile soil of the minds and hearts of those who hear it.
In the previous sermon, we considered this truth from the vantage point of the soil. There in that sermon, I exhorted you to be good soil, that is, to receive the word in a good way – to be a good hearer of God’s word – to receive the gospel of the kingdom of Christ truly, by faith, and with repentance. But here we are analyzing the seed of the word of God itself. We are marveling over the power that is contained within the seed of the gospel. We are recognizing that the seed of the gospel must be sown into soil if it is ever to release its power. And we are contemplating the fact that it must be received, not by any kind of soil, but by good soil if it is to germinate, grow, and reach the fruitful maturity of holiness and life eternal.
This is how the word of God – the gospel of the kingdom of God – works. It works like a seed works. The gospel has contained within it the power to save. But for this power to be released, the gospel must be proclaimed to men and women and received by faith. Listen again to Paul’s famous statement about the power of the gospel. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16, ESV). In Romans 10:13-15 the Apostle expands upon this when he says, “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” (Romans 10:13–15, ESV). You see, the gospel has the power to save, for it is through belief in the gospel that men and women call upon the name of the Lord. But to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ, they must believe in him. And to believe in him, they must hear about him. And to hear about him, someone must preach to them. And if preachers are to preach, they must be sent.
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The Soil
One last thing I would like to do with you this morning is to consider the soils again, but this time I would like to consider them, not from the vantage point of the hearer of God’s word (like we did in the previous sermon), but from the vantage point of the preacher of God’s word. We should remember that this parable was presented to two different audiences. First, Christ delivered this parable to the multitudes that came from the towns (Luke 8:4). These were undoubtedly being exhorted by Christ through this parable to be good hearers of the word of God that was delivered to them. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”, Christ concluded (Luke 8:8). But the parable was explained in detail to the disciples of Christ who gathered with him in private. These, you see, were not only hearers of God’s word, but they would be preachers of God’s word too. So, they would consider the soils not only from the vantage point of a hearer but also a preacher, or sower of the seed of the gospel. A question that they would have had is a question that you and I likely have: how will it be that any will receive the word of God with an honest and good heart?
Do you understand the importance of this question? These men would be sent out as sowers of the seed of the gospel of the kingdom. They would be sent out soon, even during Christ’s earthly ministry ( see Luke 9:1ff. & 10:1ff.). They would be sent out permanently as sowers at the end of Christ’s earthly ministry before his ascension (see Matthew 28:18ff. & Acts 1:8). And thankfully, they would be sent out with powerful and potent seed – the seed of the word of God. But what about the soil? If it is true that success requires, not only potent seed but also good soil, what about the soil? Where would this good soil, that is to say, these good, honest, and receptive hearts and minds come from? The answer is that the disciples of Jesus would always have good seed to cast upon good soil by God’s grace. The seed is the word of God, so it is inherently good and potent. And God by his grace will prepare the soil of the hearts and minds of some to make them good and receptive to the seed of his word.
Friends, the Scriptures are clear that our hearts and minds are not naturally good, honest, and receptive to God’s word, given our fall into sin. In sin, our minds are darkened, our hearts are hard, and our wills are polluted, being bent towards evil. To use the language of our parable, our hearts are by nature like the soil of the wayside, the rocky soil, and the thorny soil. Where then will this good soil come from? Again I say, that God will give it as a gift through the preaching of his word and by the inward working of his Holy Spirit upon the hearts of his elect.
This is the doctrine of effectual calling. I have not left myself much time to demonstrate this doctrine from Scripture, though it could easily be done. For the sake of brevity and clarity, I’ll cite our Second London Confession 10:1. It faithfully summarizes the teaching of Holy Scripture when it says, “Those whom God hath predestinated unto life, he is pleased in his appointed, and accepted time, effectually to call, by his Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ; enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the things of God; taking away their heart of stone; and giving to them a heart of flesh; renewing their wills, and by his almighty power determining them to that which is good, and effectually drawing them to Jesus Christ; yet so as they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.”
(Romans 8:30; Romans 11:7; Ephesians 1:10, 11; 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14; Ephesians 2:1-6; Acts 26:18; Ephesians 1:17, 18; Ezekiel 36:26; Deuteronomy 30:6; Ezekiel 36:27; Ephesians 1:19; Psalm 110:3; Song of Solomon 1:4)
Yes, in this parable we find an exhortation to receive the word of God with a good and honest heart. But no one is able do so unless the Lord effectually calls them externally by his word and inwardly by his Spirit. This is what is behind the words of Christ in verse 8, “he who has ears to hear let him hear.” Some, by God’s grace, have ears to hear his voice. And this is the doctrine that is behind the words of Christ that he spoke to his disciples in verse 10: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’” (Luke 8:10, ESV). It is the Biblical doctrines of predestination, effectual calling, and reprobation (or the passing over of the non-elect) that stand behind these words of our Lord.
You see, the words of Christ concerning the good soil in verse 8, “And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold”, and in verse 15, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience”, do not only function as an external call to be good hearers of the word, they are also a promise to the preacher of the word that there will always be good soil in the world on which to cast the seed of the gospel. Yes, as you proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, many seeds will fall upon hearts hardened and deceived by sin, but some will fall on good soil – that is to say, on hearts and minds made good and receptive to God’s word by God’s grace through the working of the Holy Spirit. This is in fulfillment to the word of the Lord spoken through the prophet Ezekiel, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26–27, ESV).
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Implications
One, if we wish to see Christ’s kingdom expand, the preaching of the word of God must be primary.
The word must be proclaimed:
Faithfully
Freely
Clearly
To the congregation
To the world
The church must walk by faith knowing that God will call his elect to himself by his word and Spirit. We ought never to rely on man-made schemes and tactics for the building up of Christ’s church. The church is spiritual. We must preaching the word relying ever on the Spirit’s work.
The church must pray for the success of the gospel and the conversion of soul, for prayer is a means that God uses alongside the preaching of his word.
