“The Parable of the Soils”
Luke 8:4-21
A sermon for 8/8/21
Pastor John Bright
This is such an easy parable because Jesus explains the meaning - easy peezy lemon squeezy! Or is it?
Lot’s of things are not as easy as they look – like getting older - Three elderly sisters, ages 92, 94 and 96, shared a house together. One evening, the 96-year-old sister went upstairs to take a bath. As she put her foot into the tub, she paused. Then she yelled down to the other two sisters and asked, "Was I getting in the tub or out?"
"You fool," said the 94-year-old. "I'll come up and see." When she got half way up the stairs she paused. "Was I going up the stairs or down?"
The 92-year-old sister was sitting at the kitchen table drinking a cup of tea and thought, "I hope I never get that forgetful, knock-on wood" and she knocked on the table. She shook her head and called out, "I'll be up to help you both as soon as I see who's at the door." 😊
Last week, I explained the imagery of the sower – let me repeat myself - In that day, to get seed in the ground, the soil would be prepared and rows cut. Then, with a bag of seed over the shoulder, a sower would walk and toss the seed. This is called “broadcast sowing.”
To understand what Jesus is trying to tell us in this parable, I want to put verses side-by-side to see what we can discover. One thing right away – this parable is not about the sower or the seed. Jesus spends the most time talking about where the seed falls. This is a parable about 4 types of soil.
The first discovery is about what is being sown
Luke 8:5a “A sower went out to sow his seed.”
Luke 8:11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.”
In that day, this word is a message of the Kingdom of God that Jesus reveals to the people in Israel (or Samaria in John 4). Last week I talked to you about the Kingdom of God as we unpacked v. 10 – “And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’”
So what’s the seed today? The proclamation of God’s Word by clergy and laity – not just at church. We, you and I, can share God’s Word everywhere we go. We can all learn to turn a casual conversation into a spiritual conversation. Example 1 – it’s not uncommon for me to strike up a conversation with a guy or gal at the next gas pump. “how are you doing today?” (Well, it’s been a rough day) “Hey, can I pray for you?” (99% of the time they say yes and I ask two questions) “What’s your name?” & “Anything specific I can pray for you?” (My name is Fred and we just got a diagnosis of cancer for my dad) “Hey Fred, let’s pray for your dad.”
Example 2 – Say this to your server when he or she is taking your drink orders at the restaurant, “In a few minutes we are going to pray and ask God to bless our meal. What can we pray for you?” (Nothing right now. I’m ok. I’ll be right back with your beverages) Now, 9 out of 10 times when I hear that, he or she comes back with my unsweet iced tea and I hear this, (I thought of something, my daughter goes to a new school next week and I’m nervous) I then get her name and say, “Jill, we will pray for you and your daughter when we pray for our meal.” Easy peezy lemon squeezy!
When you do these things with a caring heart, folks want to hear more about God – so start today! Now – the four soils:
Soil #1
Luke 8:5b “And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.”
Luke 8:12 “Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”
Here is a new part of the discovery – the different soils are different people. In the parable, the first soil is the road which isn’t a soil at all – that’s where people walk and the seed can be trampled. On a hard surface, it will also be exposed for the birds to get. As we look to v. 12, it’s not feet or birds in the explanation. It’s the evil one, the devil.
Here we see a major contrast between God and the devil:
• God wants to give you His Word
• The devil wants to take God’s Word from you
In the explanation of the 2nd and 3rd soils, the devil is not mentioned but all those things that prevent the Believer from becoming fruitful have a common source – Ephesians 2 “1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
From this passage we discover the mortal enemies of any Believer – the world, the flesh and the devil. This parable proves it!
According to v. 12, the Word of God can enter a person’s heart and then it is taken away before that person can be saved. So, let’s be really clear - the folks who represent soil #1 are NOT Believers. What about the next one?
Soil # 2
Luke 8:6 “Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.”
Luke 8:13 “But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.”
The parable describes a very thin layer of topsoil over hard ground or bedrock. What does v. 13 tell us? The Word of God is received by that person with joy and they believe. That’s a good thing, right? We want more Believers and we can have altar calls with folks who have joy, joy, joy – where? – down in my heart – where? Ok, you know how that goes. I believe the church – that’s you and me – we have failed to prepare the joyous new Believers to face our mortal enemies – the world, the flesh, and the devil. We did not prepare them to face temptation. Some even dare to tell them there will be no temptation after salvation!
Now we come to the phrase that divides many believers, “and in time of temptation (they) fall away.” When I read this, as a Believer in the Wesleyan Tradition, I hear that the person was a Believer, but then they “fell from grace” – others call this “losing your salvation.” There are Believers from other traditions of Christianity who believe in “eternal assurance” – what most call “once saved, always saved.” To them, the person represented by soil #2 was never saved to begin with or some describe these as falling away from the church, not from God.
When I talk to someone who believes different from me, I try to show them all that we have in common. Let’s say you believe in “eternal assurance” and I believe a person can “fall from grace.” We both agree that a person can only be saved by the blood of Jesus, right? So we go to church with a guy named Lester who got saved at a revival. Lester is coming to worship every Sunday and weekly Bible study for a few months. Then he disappears and we hear Lester has gone back to his worldly lifestyle. At this point, you and I probably disagree – you think he was never saved and I think he was, but is no more. Now, we reach another point of agreement. We both believe he needs the blood of Jesus, right?
Everyone would agree that the person represented by soil #2 is not fulfilling the purpose of soil – to bear fruit. It is a sad, sad picture – just like soil #3.
Soil # 3
Luke 8:7 “And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.”
Luke 8:14 “Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”
I’m going to be pretty blunt here – I see a description of most, if not all, of our “pew warmers” in the traditional churches. These Believers have been called “carnal Christians.” They are compromising with our mortal enemies – the world, the flesh, and the devil. We have all been hurt. We have all been betrayed. We have all struggled with “needs vs wants.” We have all sought comfort in right ways and in wrong ways. This is the normal stuff of life. But when these take over as the priority in your life, they can easily and quickly choke out the absolute claim that God has on His children. How easily we move from pleasing God to pleasing men. How quickly the daily nourishment of God’s Word and prayer give way to the junk food of satisfying the desires of the flesh. This can clearly be seen as Believers become consumed with social media. Please hear me on this – all social media is meant to manipulate you to do what they want and they do it in ways you will never see coming. So, it that of God? Of course not.
This is another sad, sad picture of Beleivers who are not bearing fruit. Now we get to the good soil.
Good Soil # 4
Luke 8:8a “But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.”
Luke 8:15 “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
Now we get to the soil that fulfills its true purpose – to bear fruit. (By the way, have you ever eaten any Bear Fruit? I don’t think it grows around here😊)
In v. 8, the parable describes an absolutely supernatural yield – 100 grains of wheat on a stalk. The normal yield in that day was between sevenfold and tenfold. What about the explanation? What do these people who represent good soil #4 look like? These folks, who seem to be in short supply in our churches, receive that Word of God into a truly receptive heart. Are there still temptations? Of course! Do they still live in the real world? Sure! Here’s the difference – their priority is to hear God’s Word, hold on to it (no matter what – that’s the patience part) and do what God’s Word tells them to do.
How do we know this? What are the three most important factors in real estate? Location, location, location. Same for scripture – instead of location we call it context. What comes right after this in chapter 8?
First – Luke 8 “16 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.”
This parable of the lamp is explained in v. 18 – “take heed how you hear.” That’s what we were covering in the parable of the soils – hearing and receiving the Word of God. The people representing the good soil #4 are the folks in v. 18 “For whoever has, to him more will be given” and the rest of that verse describes the other soils – “whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” One is a fruitful Believer and the other leaves us to wonder if she or he is Believer at all.
Second – “19 Then His mother and brothers came to Him, and could not approach Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was told Him by some, who said, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see You.”
21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
If we look to v. 21, we find a description that we need to tie into the parables about soils and lamps – “these who hear the word of God and do it.” These are not the ones who compromise with our mortal enemies and these are not the ones about whom we wonder, “Are they saved?”
Back when I was in the Youth Group at Magnolia UMC, we used to ask a question, “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Does that question bother you today the way it bothered me back then? If the evidence was: “he’s always helping folks” or “she is very nice” would that prove you are a Believer?
I want to be known as one who hears the Word of God - who believes the Word of God – who does what the Word of God instructs me to do.
Yes – I want to be guilty as charged – beyond any reasonable doubt. Back then, folks like that were “Jesus Freaks.” What will they call us today? Amen.
