Grace 2 – Parable of the Sower
Who knows how to make a cake?
• The first thing we have to assume in making a cake is that I have the competency to make a cake
• I have to be able to go to the store, buy the ingredients, follow the recipe, put it in the oven, decorate it, etc
• Most of us, although the women might have some reservations about letting some of us men in the kitchen, would be capable of making a cake
• It’s a doable project even for us men
Who knows how to make an apple?
• I know how to make an apple. I go out buy a tree, plant it, water it etc and all things being equal when it bears fruit, I have produced an apple
• But have I really produced it?
• No, I had to trust the work of the tree to do its thing – which is to produce apples
• This simple example highlights the difference between “our own works” and “faith in the saving works of Jesus Christ”
• When it comes to something like making a cake, we can through our own works produce a cake
• It’s a doable project as I said
• But when it comes to something as complex as producing an apple the best we can do is plant a tree and let it do its thing
• It’s the same when it comes to our salvation. We of ourselves despite how hard we work are incapable of coming up with the goods for perfection – like we discovered last time (Scale of success)
• It is beyond our ability – it is not doable
• So our only alternative is to trust the one whose job it is bring about salvation for us, Jesus Christ – He is the salvation tree if you like, He is the Tree of Life
• That’s what saving faith is – trusting the one whose job it is to produce salvation.
• But, and here comes the rub, why is it that we are happy to trust an apple tree to produce apples, but we have the hardest time trusting Jesus when He tells us all we have to do is believe in Him and He will produce salvation for us
• “He says believe Me when I tell you that I have done it for you, so sit back and enjoy the apple”
• But what do we do in our unbelief, we sit down under the apple tree fretting about our inability to produce an apple and continue to try to come up with our own plan to produce an apple
• We still think we have to contribute our own works in producing an apple
Last time we started a series called “Living under Grace” with the key scripture being Rom 6:14-15 “We are no longer under law but under grace”
• This is a very important subject because if we are honest and look at Christianity today it would seem we are still living under the law instead of living under grace – we seem to be preoccupied with the law
• So my hope is to show you the benefits of living under grace
• Its goes back to what I was saying last time, Jesus came “bringing glad tidings of great joy for all peoples”
• Last time we learnt the glad tidings that when we fail, Jesus makes up the difference for us with His grace
• Remember we discussed how we are so quick to use the ideals of Marriage, Friendship, and The Law as a club to beat up our spouses, friends, fellow Christians etc
• And we end up with an environment of “guilt and blame” instead of one of “Grace and forgiveness”
• But the good news of living under grace is that we have the Freedom to fail – Jesus came to make up for our failures.
• He lived the perfect life we could not live; He died the death we should have died; and he defeated death by rising from the dead so we could live with Him for all Eternity
• And we briefly discussed the deterrent for that huge fear some seem to have that “if grace abounds, then sin will also abound”
• And the two points we mentioned were, 1) Sin has penalties – pain is a good deterrent, and 2) we are born again, a new creation, born of the Holy Spirit and therefore wired for producing the fruits of the Spirit
Today in response to this fear “if grace abounds, then sin will also abound” I want to spend some more time on this subject of “how we are to grow under grace”
• To look at this subject we are going to take a look at the Parable of the Sower
• Matthew 13:18-23 (NKJV)18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
• What is the main point of the parable? The different types of soil
• I would like to suggest a subtle change – it is the soil’s response to the seed, and what the soil allows the seed to produce
• The key here is not the soil, its the seed - the key to the success of the whole operation is the seed
• Without the seed the soil can’t produce anything
• Who is the seed? In Luke’s account (Luke 8:11) we are told that the seed is the Word of God – the Logos, Jesus Christ
• Can the soil bring forth fruit? No, only the seed can
• So who brings forth the 30, 60, 100 fold?
• I have here an apple seed. Everything needed to produce this apple is stored inside this seed
• What is stored in this seed? – life, apple DNA etc
• Stored inside is how to grow a trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and the apple fruit
• It somehow signals the various cells to go to the right place, wood, bark, leaves, apple core, seeds, flesh, skin and skin color
• It knows just the right time of the year to start the fruit making process
• Each little seed we throw in the bin is a miracle in itself
• Jesus says He is the seed that brings forth 30, 60, 100 fold depending on how well we cooperate with the process
• the more we surrender to the Seed, Jesus Christ, the more fruit He is able to produce in our lives
• Jesus makes a similar point in John 15
• John 15:5 (NKJV)5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
• Christians make a huge mistake when we think we are the ones who bring forth the fruit – its the soil or the branch saying, I’m the one producing the apples
• The old nature cannot product the fruits of the Spirit – its impossible
• Our job in the process is to not allow ourselves to get distracted by the birds, the stony soil or the thorns so the Seed can get on with His work of producing fruit
It’s interesting that in scripture as the various authors deal with the subject of repentance they always refer to the actions after repentance as “fruit” rather than “works”
• There is one exception in Acts 26 where Paul had his discourse with Agrippa and there refers to “works worthy of repentance” but the context again speaks about activities consistent with “belief” rather than “unbelief” or action consistent with “faith” rather than “unfaith”
• Let me give you a couple of examples
• Matthew 3:8 (NKJV) 8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,
• I already read you what Jesus said in Matt 13:23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
• John 15:5 (NKJV)5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
• Galatians 5:18-26 (NKJV)18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
• Think of it this way if you like. “Works” are something we as humans are capable of producing, like a cake or this list of sins
• Man may be able to map the human genome, he can impregnate a 65 year old woman with a fertilized cell so she can have a baby
• But the simple truth is he cannot even made something as simple as an apple
• Man doesn’t have a clue how to stuff life into a seed – that is God’s domain
• On the other hand “fruits” is something out of our hands as in the case of apples - that is God’s domain as are producing Godly fruits
• 22 But the fruit of the Spirit
• Whose fruit is it?
• is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
• And of course this is precisely what Jeremiah had in mind when he prophesied in
• Jeremiah 31:33 (NKJV)33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
• But this is much more than the old Mosaic Law, this is the very life and love of God living in us through the Holy Spirit
• Who do we trust more to bring about growth in our lives, the external law written on stone, or the very Word of God living in our hearts?
• Jesus in this parable is saying, if you would only get out of the way and let me do my thing, the Seed would be so much more effective
• By thinking you can contribute something to the process is actually hindering my work, just as the birds, the stony ground and the thorns are
• So He says relax, trust the process, sit under the tree and enjoy the fruit
• He tells us to believe in me, trust me living in you as much as you trust an apple seed to produce an apple
• “I cannot not live in you without something happening to you”
• that is what living faith is, trusting the process
• we don’t need to sit around trying to work up all this faith, Jesus says, Let the Seed do its work
• God knows we Christians need to relax and enjoy the ride
Some think the church’s primary business is to teach morality
• it’s not, its to proclaim the glad tidings of great joy to all mankind – and those glad tidings are the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ and an invitation to join the free party to which everyone is invited
• And as we go through this series of parables we will see what Jesus has to say about moralizers
So how does living under grace sound to you so far?
• Last sermon we learned the Grace of God allows us the freedom to fail
• Today we have learned to relax and trust the process God has put in place to conform us into the likeness of His Son
• Hopefully we are beginning to appreciate the benefits of living under the grace of Jesus Christ
• And my hope is that every time you eat an apple you will remember how God is using you to bear good fruits
