by Pastor Bob Rasmussen
“Seeds”
This past Friday we had SOAK again. It was a great opportunity to just pray and praise, to intercede for our families, for this body, for the nation. After a long week it was refreshing to change my perspective of what in the end is not more important, to the thing that is more important, and that is Jesus, amen? To take some intentional time like we are this morning, to praise and worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords
It’s about Jesus and the Word – that is ultimately what this world needs in these ever-darkening days. It is the Word of God that will change the hearts of men and women in our families, in our city, in this nation, and this world. And Friday there were prayer requests for many in here, and Pastor Jeff shared a scripture. Some of which is this:
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
That verse just shook me. The incredible sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf. He went through unimaginable pain and suffering to be the atonement for our sins, taking upon Himself the punishment we deserved, that I deserved, so that we could experience peace and healing.
Through His wounds, we are offered healing—not only from physical ailments but also from the spiritual brokenness that sin causes. In Jesus, we find the promise of forgiveness, restoration, and a renewed relationship with God. Praise God, amen?
Isaiah 53:5 also highlights the peace that comes from trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice. As we embrace Him, we can experience the peace that surpasses all understanding, knowing that our relationship with God has been restored.
That was a Word from the Lord I needed, and I embraced – thank You Lord! And that is a Word that our city, our nation and the world needs now. In this period of redemption, the time is getting closer.
And I think many of us have a heart that is hungry for the word of God. We look forward to reading it, hearing it, letting it work in our hearts. But this world today, it seems that there are many that are resistant to receive the soul saving grace of Jesus – and in many ways it is not that much different than when Jesus was in His ministry.
I want to talk about the parable of the Sower this morning found in Matthew 13, but before we get into that, I want to preface that with something that happened in Chapter 12.
There is a lot of rejection of Jesus and who Jesus says he is. Even though He is doing all these miracles and healing. Specifically, the Pharisees
Matthew 12:13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
The Greek word for destroy is apollmi – another one I butchered. To put out of the way entirely, abolish, put an end to ruin render useless, to kill, to declare that one must be put to death.
Jesus knows all this so on the heels of this rejection, we start in Chapter 13
13 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 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.
Now, for us – we have the whole story. We know how everything started, what happened when Jesus was alive, how He was brutally crucified, that he was in a grave, and praise the Lord He defeated the grave and ascended and sent the Holy Spirit.
Jeus used these parables with a lot of imagery, which is what makes them very powerful, especially for us since we have His Word, the bible, amen?
Who Jesus is talking to, they were an agricultural society, they literally could have been or probably would have seen farmers sowing that seed. They would be able to see in their mind the farmer walking the field, with a seed bag and tossing the seed in the fields.
And then right after he shares that parable, like I said last time, the apostles are like, why do you do that, why do you speak in parables.
11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
I think that parables illustrate and clarify truth for those that want to hear, that want to seek Jesus. While parables can have the exact opposite effect on people that oppose and reject Christ. The imagery and symbolism hides the truth to those who do not have the discipline or desire to engage in its’ meaning.
13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive
And as I read this in the context of today looking at our current situation in the world where depravity is embraced, even championed. Where the norms declared by the Lord Himself are not what society wants, they are openly rejected.
I see generations now that do not see. I see generations that are choosing not to hear. And without any effort, they do not understand. And time is running out!
15 For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Jesus is saying if only people would listen to what I am saying. If they would just try to understand. If they would open their ears and hear the Word of the Lord, they might be healed.
He’s not talking about a skin disorder or a birth defect, He is talking humanity in general – That humanity is sick with sin and in a need of a Savior, and He is right there – He is the solution.
Jesus wants to heal folks, He wants them to be saved, but they must wake up and listen. They must open their ears and hear the Word of God. They must open their eyes and read His Word. They need to seek so they can have an understanding.
And this parable of the Sower, well it is pretty important. It is what some have called the foundational parable. This parable is not just in Matthew, it is also in the books of Luke and Mark. And in the book of Mark Jesus says this:
Mark 4:13 And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
I’m not saying this parable is important, Jesus is. Now, Jesus was the greatest preacher ever to walk the earth. I would loved to see and hear him speak, but I would not have been able to understand him, but just imagine! Now, this may come as no surprise, but in the parable the Sower is Jesus Christ Himself and the seeds that are sown is the message of His gospel. Sowing is a metaphor for spreading the gospel. And Jesus being Jesus, explains it line by line so that the apostles, and we, can understand what He is trying to convey.
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. 19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
The preaching of the Word whether it is here in this church, or on the internet with live streams, or podcasts, or bible studies – it doesn’t matter what medium, the gospel is going to be received by 4 different types of people. Based on one important condition – the condition of their heart.
I also think it is important to remember that Jesus is using seeds as the Word of God. Why use a seed to identify the Word of God? Something that is dry and appears dead – but the power of what is inside of it has the power to bring life and transform what is around it.
Seeds bring life by providing the very food that they ate back then, and we eat today. As I have been driving around southern Wisconsin, I have been seeing all this harvesting that is going on, and I think about how that little seed grows so high. It’s amazing, and a reminder of the power within a seed, especially the seed of the Gospel.
But we must be careful. If you plant a corn seed, you get what? Corn. You plant a tomato seed you get what – a tomato plant. Not every seed that is being preached, taught, Instagrammed, broadcast is a real seed. It is commercialized, it watered down, it is made to conform to the world. Real seed comes from the actual Word, amen?
And that scripture says it is sown where? It is sown in the heart, not the mind, amen! The place that gets transformed is the heart of men and of women. Out of abundance the heart speaketh.
OK, so the first soil, or heart condition as I am leaning to call it is the hard heart
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
When the farmers back then would sow their seed, they most likely had pathways that they would walk, throwing their seed to and fro. That path they would walk as they spread seed, the same path they would walk after a rain, when they would weed. That path everything was packed down. It was hard soil. And if a farmer threw their seed it would kind it would just sit there. Exposed to the elements because it could not get down in there.
As for people, these are the type of people that hear the gospel and just block it out. The atheist that just says no – I don’t want it, I don’t want to hear it, I don’t believe it. It goes in one ear and bounces off the heart and out the other ear. It does not stop there though, when they deny Jesus, what happens, then comes the wicked one, the enemy, comes and snatches it up! Steals it right from their heart.
It reminded me of pigeons. Anyone ever see a bunch of them in a park or a city? They are crazy. And if you take seed, follow me, you take seed, and you throw it out, they just annihilate it. They are like flying rats. They devour it so that there is none left.
So just like a farmer throws his seed, the enemy will come and snatch away that word for those with a hard heart. And you know why? The enemy knows the power of the Word of God. The enemy knows the Word and will always do what he can to block, divert, and devour any possibility of the Word, because he is evil.
Which is why we are always in a spiritual battle, for the hearts of every single person on this planet. We are the frontline of warfare when we are trying to save people.
Many times when I see someone sharing the gospel, you will see me bow my head. I am praying that, that hard heart, that hard soil, will be broken up to receive the salvation of Jesus. This is no small thing we are involved in – we are trying to save souls in this the world for the glory of Jesus Christ! Amen!
The second soil or heart condition that Jesus talks about is the stony heart.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
I have been in Israel. It was ages ago, and my reason for my visit was purely based on the mission my Army division was tasked with. I was there for 6 months, there was not much site seeing. But I was there long enough to experience the beauty and the challenges of the environment. It was hot. Consistently hot, and there was not a lot of rain. At least where I was. Parts of Israel are more suited to growing crops.
But one thing that you have to do when planting crops is make sure that the plant has deep roots. As a plant grew, the roots would hit limestone about a foot or so, the roots would not develop. The plant would be there for a bit, but it would whither and die. Again, Jeus’s audience would understand all of this.
This kind of heart is shallow. There is no depth.
Maybe they are the person that goes to a church service and at the end the preacher says, if you want to give your heart to Jesus, just raise your hand. You know, that is not in the Word. You have to go deeper than that. It not a simple hand raise and save, amen? They may come to church for a while, I’ve seen – I’ve done it. But then you do not see them anymore. They seem to drop off the face of the earth.
But there has to be a point where we all have to make a decision. We either stay in the faith and let things like God’s conviction continue to develop our lives, like standing for the values of Jesus or we choose compromise – and choose a shallow heart.
And when trouble comes, when storms come, we often see the truth. This stony ground portrays a man who claims delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly dissolves.
I think when we start seeing people in our life distance themselves from us, sometimes it might be easier to shy away from our faith, to say things that are pleasing to their ears – but we can’t, we need to stay strong. We need to be rooted in his Word.
Now for the 3rd heart
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Choke the word is some very serious language, and in the parable after this Jesus goes a little more in depth. But in some areas in Israel, and in all parts of the world really, there are some pretty aggressive weeds, and the way they grow, they wrap themselves around the other plant and literally cut off the roots so the plant will die.
“Thorns. Weeds, the roots of which were still in the ground after plowing had been done.” [MacArthur 1148]
There is still some stuff that we have to get rid of after we come to Jesus. There are some weeds and thorns and junk and ick! To me that is why the filling of the Holy Ghost is so important. Because before we came to Christ, are hearts were preoccupied by everything in this world. But when we repent, when we turn away, when we are baptized in His precious Name, we become filled with the Holy Ghost, and Jesus takes occupation of our heart, amen?
Without the help of the Spirit, without a desire to keep going deeper in His Word, without effort – we lose our focus and start to become more like the world, and we will let the world re-occupy our heart. Well ,where is the good news?
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
This is what I would a receptive heart. A heart that receives the seed of the Word and produces good fruit. And what kind of fruit is that?
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
This person is thinking and doing – the doing is important – that they want more of God. They want more truth. We want to be convicted. We want to be changed. This person desires holiness and righteousness, to be more like Jesus every day of their lives.
The seed that grows in this good soil, in our good soil, in our hearts has the power to transform it all. It can transform our minds, our hearts, and our identity. And as we grow, we become Sowers of the Word. We sow the Word into our life, we sow the Word into our families, we sow into our marriage.
And we sow into the world, we’re here today gathered together, because of Jesus. We want to praise and worship Him, because we are the good soil, amen? And we’ll keep sowing God’s Word, His Righteous Word, His transformative Word, His powerful Word so that any who hear it, if they are receptive, will receive it.
So my question this morning is this – how is your soil? Is it a little hard or even impenetrable? Has this life been beating you up and your trying to close your heart up?
Are there thorns of unforgiveness or anger or bitterness trying to take hold?
Is this life so busy that you don’t have enough time to seek Jesus in prayer or His Word?
We’re going to open the altar and I know a guy who can help all of that. Just ask Jesus to show you where and he’ll take care of the how, amen? If you seek Him, you will find Him.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
We are an Acts 2:38 church, that is true, but we believe in all of God’s Word, amen. What we are doing here, gathering together to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lord’s, well it is in the Word as well.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
It’s messy out there. People are messy. It is good to get together to remind ourselves that God is faithful, and that we are not alone, that we have each other when the trials of this life try to take root.
We pray for each other, and we testify to encourage one another.
If you are watching online and have the ability, not everyone does, but we encourage you to find a body of believers to worship and praise the one and only Savior – Jesus Christ.
The altar is open.
Janesville Apostolic Ministries 