The most precious gift God has given mankind, apart from Jesus Himself, is His written Word, the Bible. Yet today the Bible is ignored, mocked, hated, vilified, and looked upon as a relic of the past, having no application for us in these ‘modern’ days.

Someone may say, “Why make such an issue over a book? It’s just a book!” But it isn’t “just a book.” It is the actual written Word of God. The Apostle John proclaimed:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)

The Second Person of the Godhead, the Son of God; i.e. Jesus Christ, is the Word, and that Word is proclaimed and glorified in the book we call the Bible. From beginning to end, Genesis through Revelation, the Word of Almighty God speaks to any who will listen.

But someone may say, “If I could only hear from God directly.” If I write you a letter, would you be hearing from me directly? Of course you would! God has written mankind a letter, a very long letter, and those who read it are hearing directly from God.

“But forty different people wrote the sixty-six books of the Bible. How can we say God wrote it?” The Apostle Peter said:

“But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)

The Apostle Paul stated:

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Why do we throw out all these frivolous excuses about the validity of the Bible when the Truth is so evident? The answer is found right in the Bible.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Those who don’t know Jesus will shy away from the Bible because they don’t want to hear the Truth about their sins and its consequences. What they are missing though is that there is a remedy provided by God, and that remedy is the forgiveness of all sins and acceptance into the family of God upon committed belief in Jesus Christ.

What about the Christians though? Why are so many Christians Biblically ignorant? We call ourselves a Christian, yet have little to no interest in the Bible. How can that be? The Bible says,

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

I know people who can quote you any sport statistic you want, but couldn’t tell you if the book of Romans is in the Old or New Testament. Others can name every soap opera and spend hours telling you about each character, but not be able to name the four Gospels. Many keep up with the political arena, the Hollywood ‘stars,’ and other ‘important’ matters, but have never told anyone else about Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t to say that all Christians are Biblically ignorant and seemingly uncaring about sharing Christ. The frightening thing is that most are. Even more frightening is the nagging suspicion of doubt about the salvation of many who claim to know Jesus but do not. They’re just ‘playing church.’

Generally speaking, churches in the United States of America are composed of people who are spoiled and lazy. We want to be entertained and accept no responsibility as a workman for our Lord.

Pastors should be fired up about Jesus Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and training those in his care for service. Jesus said the Scriptures spoke of Him. So, all the Word of God should be taught, not just pieces here and there.

In my opinion, much of the disinterest in the pew comes from the pulpit. If those in the pulpits would preach the unadulterated Truth and ALL the Truth from the Bible, people by the thousands would be falling on their knees before God to be forgiven and looking intently for His return.

I realize that many would stop going to the church services just as they also forsook Christ. The offering plate might suffer. A pastoral job might be on the line. What is more important though, being a spiritual wimp or a warrior for Jesus Christ?

This Bible we’re talking about is composed of roughly 27% prophecy, but prophecy is rarely ever mentioned from most pulpits. It has been my experience that many of those in the congregation would love to have their pastor teach prophecy, but the pastors refuse. Why? Oh, they give various reasons, but could the real reason be that they know nothing about prophecy? If you don’t know it, you can’t teach it. Right?

The Bible is the most important material piece of property we could ever have in our hands, but it is absolutely of no use to us if we don’t open it up, use it and believe it. It contains the Truth about God, about us and so much more. If we believe what it says, could we really ignore it?

All of it should be proclaimed. All of it should be, by a true Christian, believed. I decided nearly fifty years ago in a religious class in college that the Bible always overrides our opinions. If it seems there is a conflict in the Scriptures, the conflict is with me, not the Scriptures. I need to keep studying and listen to the Lord, not man. Every word in the Bible is true, or none of it is true, and it is 100% Truth. Satan will try to place doubts in our minds through unscrupulous men. Ignore them. Only God speaks the Truth, and every word He says is Truth.

Grant Phillips

The Parable of the Sower is found in Matthew 13:3-23; Mark 4:1-20 and Luke 8:4-15. I will be using the Matthew account.

At this point in our Lord’s ministry He began speaking to the people in parables. Have you ever wondered why? The disciples did. At first He was speaking plainly, and then all of a sudden He starts speaking in parables. Beginning at verse ten we read,

“And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

Jesus responded by saying, “… To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,

‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;

You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;

For the heart of this people has become dull,

With their ears they scarcely hear,

And they have closed their eyes,

Otherwise they would see with their eyes,

Hear with their ears,

And understand with their heart and return,

And I would heal them.’

But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

In Jesus’ first message to the people, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) He spoke plainly, and the people came to hear Him. After a while though, the people started coming for a different reason. They came not so much to listen, but to be healed from physical ailments. They were not interested in their spiritual well-being, but were totally engrossed in their physical well-being.

The signs Jesus performed were primarily to fulfil prophecy as proof that He, Jesus, was the prophesied Messiah they had been waiting for. The Gospel message was the real meat, but they wanted to nibble on the fat of life. They were more interested in the healing of the flesh and other miracles, than the miracle of saving faith. Therefore, to get them to think harder about what He was saying, He spoke in parables. Those who were really interested would hear with their ears (notice verse nine), while the others, the majority, would drift away.

Notice how Jesus’ preaching is the exact opposite of what we see today. He chose to cull out the fat, while most ministers today are out to fill the pews and the offering plates. Most ministers today choose to entertain, but Jesus chose to preach the Word of the Gospel.

Jesus spoke of the Gospel of the kingdom of Heaven, which is what His true followers have been proclaiming for the last two thousand years. This is the gospel of victory in Jesus Christ; i.e. victory over sin, victory over life’s hurdles, victory over self-induced problems, victory over death and the grave. This is God’s grace personified in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and bestowed on all who will come to Him in simple child-like faith, trusting Him with a repentant heart and a willing soul.

The Gospel says we are lost and need to be saved. It proclaims and condemns our sins, then offers forgiveness and fellowship. It is the Good News of eternal blessings with our Savior and Lord, and Godly comfort in a world that is no longer our own.

So Jesus spoke to them in parables. Those who were really interested in hearing the message of Truth would hear. The others would go on their way.

In this first parable, it is important to understand that the four types of soil are not four different types of people. The four different types of soils are four different conditions of the heart,when the seed is sown. The seed of course is referring to the Word of God.

One final note is that the sower could be any Christian who is sowing the seeds of the Gospel. The seed can be sown by preaching, teaching, books, articles, personal witnessing through various means, etc. The garden is the field and the field is white unto harvest. (John 4:35)

“Behold, the sower went out to sow;”

Beside The Road

“and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.”

Jesus explains in verse nineteen that the birds are representative of Satan, the evil one. As the Gospel seed is sown in this heart it finds a calloused heart worn down and uninterested in the things of God. This heart dwells upon material things and is interested only in self (humanism). It is so calloused and self-absorbed it could be anything from liberalistic to atheistic in its attitude.

The path is hardened. Therefore the seed falls only on the surface and takes no root. The birds of the air, the evil one, find the seed to be ‘easy picking.’ The ones possessing this heart may claim to be a Christian, but the church is like a lodge or country club to them. They may even stray off into other “isms” or cults. The seed is rejected.

Rocky Places

“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. But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.”

This heart provides no soil of any depth, and therefore the seed takes no root and withers under the hot sun. Impulsiveness drives this heart. This heart resides in a person who may be a church member, but emotionalism is the master. It is all show and no depth, full of fire but no heat. It rides high on emotions, but wallows in despair when troubles come. It is on the front row when being entertained, but would rather be absent than sit through another ‘boring’ sermon. The seed is rejected.

Among The Thorns

“Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.”

Some try to imply or even say that the sowing among the thorns refers to weak Christians. That simply is not so. First of all, the type of soil is the condition of the heart upon being presented the seed (which is the Word of God). This is referring to another unbelieving heart, a shallow heart that chokes out the seed. The seed is the subject matter, and it is the seed that is being choked out.

This heart is concerned only with the cares of this world, and is busy, busy, busy. It lives for the job, the family, pleasures, money, bills, illness, and all else that the world presents. The cares of the world are much more important than any spiritual matter. This heart is restless, going from one thing to another. Therefore, the Word, the seed, is choked out.

Notice in verse twenty two that Jesus says ‘it’ (the Word) becomes unfruitful. He does not say the man is unfruitful. He says the seed, the Word, is unfruitful. Again, the seed is rejected.

On The Good Soil

“And others fell on good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

This soil is receptive to the seed when it is sown. Its responsiveness shows in the deeper, rich soil that provides a home for the seed to take root, germinate and grow, producing a crop.

This is the soil where we will find different levels of Christian maturity. The seed that fell on good soil produced a true Christian whose heart (soil) was ready for the Gospel and accepted it.

Christians are at different levels of Christian growth. The heart of one Christian may produce hundred fold crops, while others maybe produce sixty or thirty, or even ten, or forty, or seventy. The point is that not all our crops will be the same.

What is the ‘crop’ referring to? The crop is simply the life we live as unto the Lord while upon this earth. The seed sown beside the road, on the rocky places, and among the thorns was rejected, and no crop of any kind was produced. Only the seed sown on the good soil can produce a crop.

Recap

“He who has ears, let him hear.”

A heart (soil) that is callous, impulsive or shallow will not accept the Word (seed). Only the receptive heart (soil) will accept the Word (seed). Only the receptive heart can and will produce a crop.

My wife and I grow vegetables in a small, backyard garden plot in a sub-division. Compared to the farms in the area, I can assure you our crop is very small. In our Christian lives, we also produce a crop. For some the crop will be small. Some will produce medium crops, and yet others will produce large crops.

Before we became a Christian, it is entirely possible that our heart, at the time the seed was being sown, was like the soil on the roadside, or the rocky places, or among the thorns, or even all three, but on that day we were saved, our heart was like the good soil, and we accepted by faith what God provided by His grace.

The heart beside the road will be calloused and not understand. The seed will be snatched away. (Seed rejected)

The heart on the rocky places will impulsively reach for it, but the seed is ultimately rejected because there is no root. (Seed rejected)

The heart among the thorns is so wrapped up in the things of the world; it (the seed, the Word) is unfruitful. (Seed rejected)

The heart on the good soil hears the Word and understands it, and it (the seed, the Word) produces a crop. (Seed accepted)

When we, as Christians, sow the seed, let us allow God the Holy Spirit to worry about the condition of the soil.

Conclusion

What did Jesus mean in verses eleven and twelve when He said?

“To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

The seed of Truth about one’s need for Jesus Christ is being presented. It is falling on hearts (soils) that are calloused, worn down, uninterested, concerned about material things, interested only in self, impulsive, emotionally controlled, shallow, wrapped up in the cares of the world, too busy, restless, and last but not least, some hearts will have receptive soils that call upon the Lord to be saved.

Those not receptive, have the Truth in their grasp, but let it slip from their fingers because of the condition of their hearts (their soil). Therefore, those who do not have (the Truth), even that will be taken away because the heart is not receptive to the Truth.“…whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

However, those who have accepted the Truth will be granted even more. They will be granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. They will grow in Christian knowledge and maturity as one grows from an infant to an adult. Some will produce a hundredfold crop, some sixty, and some thirty (Matthew 13:8, 23). “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance.”

What condition is your heart today? Is it like the soil beside the road, or perhaps the rocky places, or even that among the thorns, or is it a heart of good soil that is open and ready to receive the seed of God’s Word, the Truth of the Gospel? Only you can decide?

Grant Phillips