"And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

I. The purpose of giving this parable as the understanding of all the other parables is:

A. Mark 4:13 - And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?

1. Understanding the interpretation and how to interpret this parable will give you the proper understanding of the interpretation and how to interpret all parables.

2. Notice that when the disciples were alone with Christ, they asked Him to give them the interpretation of the parables.

a. Only Jesus can give you the proper interpretation.

b. It is good to come to church services and listen to preaching, but if you don't do any personal study of these parables, all the preaching in the world won't do you any good.

c. If you go to anybody except Jesus Christ, you won't find the proper interpretation.

B. Luke 8:8 - Jesus cried, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

1. This passage shows the urgency of Christ for people to hear and understand what He is saying to them.

2. It is not the will of God that His saints remain ignorant of the blessings He has given them, He is giving them, and will give them.

C. There are many things we won't understand perfectly about the parables.

1. Don't get too upset about this.

2. There were many things the sower didn't understand perfectly about how the seed sprouted and came up and brought forth fruit.

3. The sower could understand the process of sowing (the how) without understanding why it works!

4. When we sow the seed, there is a trust that the rain, sunshine, and proper growing conditions will come along.

5. This is trust in things we cannot control.

6. This is trust in God, who provides all things.

D. Our job is to do the very best possible in this life.

1. Let us not look to the right or left.

2. Let us look only to eternity and trust God to make us successful.

3. Our job is to sow the seed in the entire world, not pick and chose where we will work.

E. Don't get too upset if your family members don't readily accept the gospel.

1. We should continue to care for them and pray for them, but we do want to be in the center of God's will.

2. The thought is a wrong thought that we are more interested in seeing our family members saved than strangers.

3. It is a wrong thought that we are more interested in seeing our family members serve God acceptably than strangers.

4. Somewhere along the line, we must come to a balance between what God wants and what we want.

5. We ought to be more interested in God's will than anything else.

6. You are not a failure if the people you talk to aren't saved. You are a failure only if you don't talk to them.

F. Don't worry about wasting the gospel seed.

1. Worry about casting your pearls before the swine.

2. God has plenty of seed.

3. And He will produce more and more seed.

4. God's Word will not return void.

II. There are four different kinds of hearers. Matt. 13:18-23

A. Sponge - suck up both good and bad, but it all runs out immediately.

1. Verse 19 - These are lost.

B. Rocks on the seashore - Enjoys the water falling against it, but has nothing to cause the water to remain on the rock.

1. Verse 20-21 - These are lost.

2. They have nothing on the inside, everything is on the outside.

C. Strainer, colander or coffee filter - Takes everything in, but allows the good to flow on through, retaining only the evil.

1. Verse 22 - These are saved.

2. They bear no fruit to perfection or completion. - See Mark 4:19 and Luke 8:14.

D. Sieve, or combine - Takes everything in, but blows off the chaff, allowing only the good grain to remain.

1. Verse 23 - These are saved.

2. They bring forth fruit of various degrees.

III. The Sower - Somebody must go. Don't leave it up to the other fellow. Somebody has to do all things (an individual).

A. Went with a purpose - to preach the gospel, not necessarily to fulfill the great commission.

1. The church is to fulfill the Great Commission, which is to go, to preach the gospel to every creature, to baptize the believers, then teach the saved baptized believers to observe all things.

2. Anybody can preach the gospel, even the lost, but only the church can fulfill the great commission.

B. No age requirement - No position requirement.

1. There are requirements for the church positions of pastor and deacon, but there are no requirements for those that preach the gospel.

2. Everybody should declare the gospel.

C. Fulfilled his God called Task for life.

D. The preparation of the ground is not our responsibility.

1. I Cor. 3:6 - Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase.

2. Many times we try to prepare people to receive the gospel message, when we ought to let God do that, and plant the gospel seed.

IV. Went forth.

A. A necessary action.

B. Shows preparation - forethought.

C. Had already decided what he was going to sow: the gospel seed.

D. Was ready when he got to the field - the field is the world.

V. To Sow:

A. Not to reap!

1. Eccl. 3:2 - There is a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

2. Many people that proclaim the gospel make the mistake of trying to reap when they sow, but they forget the seed needs time to develop.

3. It is very wrong to pray "the sinners prayer" with a person, convincing that person that praying that prayer will save them.

4. It is never wrong to encourage the lost person to pray, but praying won’t save a person – Jesus saves!

B. With a purpose, had a result in mind.

1. God will take care of the result, we take care of the sowing.

2. If we don’t sow, we won’t reap.

3. We will reap whatever we sow – the seed doesn’t change from what it was to whatever we want it to be.

C. Things about sowing.

1. Eccl. 11:4-6 - Don't look up at clouds. Don't let men bother you.

2. Heb. 12:2 - Keep rows straight by looking ahead. Jesus looked past the cross to eternal glory.

3. Phil. 3:13,14 - Put the seed on the ground ahead of you and on either side of you, never behind you. Forget the good and bad of yesterday and do today what you can for God. Use today's opportunities. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

4. Matt. 13:4-8 - Cover the ground with seed (sow in all places and in all times).

a. Don't worry about wasting God's seed.

b. He has plenty.

c. This parable actually tells us that God knows some of the seed will be "wasted".

d. God knows that.

e. This is why He says His Word will not return void, but will accomplish that which He has determined.

D. Comments about sowing.

1. A time when you can't see results.

a. Eccl 7:8 - the end of a thing is better than the beginning.

b. Don’t be discouraged when you don’t see results, God will take care of that in time.

c. It is our responsibility to be faithful in sowing the seed.

2. A time when you feel something more is needed.

a. Luke 17:5-10 – "…Lord, increase our faith."

b. Must be consistent.

3. Examples of bad missionary experiences.

a. Brother Richard Turner telling me about a time on the mission field in Brazil when he went to a meeting and reported that 2 or 3 were saved. The evangelist to that same meeting, Brother Bobby Craiglow reported there were 30 or so saved.

b. We had a meeting in Willow Hill with Brother Paul Hatcher. He reported there were 10 or so saved, but the results reveal that nobody was saved.

c. Some missionaries are encouraged to report many conversions because that is why some people are sending their money to you. If you don’t report conversions, you will stop being supported, and people will say you aren’t doing anything.

d. What God does with the seed is his business. What we do with the seed is our business. The results are up to God. Look at the end result before you decide whether a thing is from God or not. Look at the result of BFM and you will see they have a lot of conversions, but where is the change in society because of those people claiming Christ in their lives? Look at our society today and all the people that say they are saved. Where is the change in our society because of those people claiming Christ in their lives? Our society is getting worse and worse, not better and better, all in the face of all these people turning to Christ. Something is terribly wrong!!

4. A time of great cost.

a. Farmers spend a lot of money in the spring when the ground is prepared and the seed is planted or sown.

b. Farmers make their money during harvest, not during planting.

c. Farmers spend their days sowing the seed, not in other things, so we as believers should spend our days in sowing the seed, not in laying up treasure on this earth, or being lazy.

d. II Cor. 9:6 - Reap as you have sowed, scantily or bountifully.

e. Gal. 6:7-9 - We shall reap as we have sowed (flesh or spirit).

E. Why did God use "seed."

1. Because seed has a life of its own. There is life in the seed, just like there is life in the living Word of God.

2. I Peter 1:23 - We are born again of incorruptible seed. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

3. Heb. 4:12 - The word of God is active, living, and able to divide between what is good and what is bad. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

F. Sowed the seed.

1. The ground was different, the seed was the same – Some ground was more receptive to the gospel than other ground because God had made them that way.

2. All the ground got the exact same kind of seed – all the seed is exactly the same.

3. God knew some of the ground would produce fruit and some would not - God made both the seed and the ground.

4. The failure to produce is not the fault of the sower, the seed, or the ground - it is the eternal purpose of God.

5. The sower was just as faithful to sow the seed on "non-productive" ground as on "productive" ground.