Sowers, Seeds And Soils

Sowers, Seeds and Soils

Luke 8:5-15

A sower went out

We are expected to go out

We are expected to sow

We cannot go out without seed

Seeds have no life until they are sown

Germination

Need water, light and soil (can grow without soil)

The seed is the word of God

Mixed with the light of Jesus and the water of the Spirit = life

The sower sowed on different ground

Not deliberately

He scattered the seeds

He sent them everywhere

Some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it

How many people tread the word of God under foot?

The one who has let people or things or situations make their heart hard that they do not want to let the Word enter their heart at all.

They could be the one who never attends church or who has attended church much of their life.

They hear the word but fail to believe it is the truth for them to follow

There are people who have come to church many times and the Word preached does not affect them

The heart that is set on the pleasures of sin will be hardened to the Word of God.

It’s a dangerous surface

It is exposed to the birds of the air and to the stomping of feet passing by

Who are the fowls?

The devil, and takes away the word out of their hearts, so they don’t believe and get saved

This is a hopeless Place

The word of God cannot find a place to stay and grow

It is on this path for a time but it does not enter and life is never given

It still is the Word of God but the one who hears it does not profit from it

He does not understand the power in the Word of God and the devil steals any chance of hope

His business is to hinder people profiting by the word of God. He takes the word out of the hearts of careless hearers

They hear

Have you shared the word with people and they tread it under their feet and immediately it has gone?

This can be disheartening, but we should expect it

Not everyone will jump up and say ‘ tell me more!’

Yet some will be just like this

Those sown on the rock

Those who hear and receive the word with joy and believe for a short time, but then fall away because they have no root

Emotional person

When the feeling goes away so does the faith that could have been

They like the feel-good of Christianity but do not want any more problems in life

Roots are there to receive water

To anchor the plant into the soil

They take in nourishment

If there is a shoot but the root is weak, the plant will not last

You may think your growth is slow, that’s ok as long as the root is deepening

Some people hear the word and come to church for a while

They don’t get anchored into the word

They don’t get watered and nourished by the Spirit

When asked for commitment, they disappear

Because they are not anchored they fall into temptation

They backslide and never return

The ones sown on thorns

They hear and go into the world

A double-minded hearer

But when cares of this life come, they give up

They want earthly things

The soil was preoccupied

These bear no fruit

If a seed doesn’t produce fruit, it is worthless

No fruit comes from this soil because the weeds are not destroyed but fed

The seed sown on good soil

Having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit

Having allowed the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to plow and dig out the bad and to replace with good

Progression in the ground

These have an honest and good heart

Plowing comes first

The first thing in getting our heart ready is to turn it over

Repent of any known sin

The word repent means, "to turn"

Repentance means to turn away from sin and pursue righteousness

To repent means that you make a 180 degree change in your life

You don’t say that you are sorry and you will try to do better, you confess that you have sinned and you need God’s forgiveness and grace

In order to cultivate a heart that is noble and good, you need to plow up your heart and mind and turn control over to God

Then there comes Preparation

We need to fertilize the soil

· Spend time in God’s Word so that the life-giving truth of scripture can soak deep into your heart

· Meditate on what you read; meditate day and night so that the truth will saturate past your mind and flow into your heart