He Taught Them Many Parables… (The Parable Of The Sower) #1

He used them frequently! The Bible says He taught them many parables.

WHY DID THE LORD TEACH IN PARABLES?

Notice, the Scripture explains the Scripture.

Look at Mark 4:1-2, we read, “And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. And he taught them many things by parables, ….”

The Bible makes it clear that He wanted to TEACH THEM MANY THINGS, and verse 2 says He chose to do this by USING PARABLES.

WHAT IS A PARABLE?

• A parable is a short story about everyday things that illustrates a single truth or principle.

• In it, one set of circumstances in the physical sphere is likened to a spiritual counterpart.

WHAT DID THE LORD WANT TO TEACH THEM IN THIS PARABLE?

In this particular parable that we are dealing with this evening, He wanted to teach them HOW DIFFERENT PEOPLE RECEIVE THE WORD OF GOD.

He used an earthly thing that they could relate to, to teach them a spiritual truth.

Look at Mark 4:3, “Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:”

Today we have very few farmers compared to the number of farmers around when Christ was here.

Why? Because we do not need as many farmers as we needed when Christ was here.

For example, one farmer can get on his tractor, and he can plow more acres in a day than a hundred farmers could plow during the days of Christ. Because of the modern age of TRACTORS, IRRIGATION, AND COMBINES, we as a nation have an abundance of food and we feed many other nations.

But during the days of Christ, they did not have this modern machinery that we have, and practically everyone was a farmer.

This is probably why the Lord chose to use the “Parable of the Sower” to teach how people receive the Word of God.

The emphasis in this parable is on the SOIL.

The seed is the Word of God, and there is nothing wrong with the Word of God.

But like any good seed, if it is sown in bad soil, nothing will come from it.

Let’s look at the different kinds of soil the seed falls on.

I. THE FIRST SOIL WAS A HARD-PACKED SOIL

Look at Mark 4:3-4, we read, “Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.”

That represents the person with a hardened heart. The Word of God did not penetrate their hearts.

That is, when the minister of the gospel preaches the Word of God to folks with hard hearts, the Word of God can never take root, and gets no further than their ears.

Because the seed can not take root in their life, consequently the Bible says it is stolen by Satan.

For example, there are people who can come to church every week to hear the Word of God preached, and by the time they get in their cars to go home, they have forgotten what the sermon was about.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

The problem is their hearts were hard like packed soil, and the seed could not take root, and the devil came and stole it from them. WHAT A SHAME!

This is why some folks can go to church for years and never grow in the Lord. It is because the Word of God is not allowed to enter their hearts.

With this crowd, the precious Word of God does not have a chance.

II. THE SECOND SOIL CONSISTED OF AN EXTREMELY THIN LAYER OF SOIL OVER SOLID ROCK

Look at Mark 4:5-6, we read, “And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.”

With this group, it looked like the Word of God might accomplish something in their life. Notice, the Bible says “Immediately it sprang up”.

If you have been saved very long, you have seen what I have seen in the church. That is, someone will come to church, hear the Word of God, respond by making a profession of faith, and for the next six weeks they are a blazing fire for the Lord.

But notice, the Lord said “…when the sun was up, it was scorched…” Why? Because the Bible said, “It had no root, it withered away.”

These folks make the Lord’s work look bad. They are on fire for the Lord for a short time, and once they get everyone having some confidence in them, they fall by the wayside.