The Parable Of The Sower

Laying The Foundation

Friend, parables are simple stories that illustrate divine mysteries. Hidden behind every parable is a secret kept since the foundation of the world. "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 13:35). Every time Jesus spoke in parables, He uttered "dark sayings of old" (Psalm 78:2). The parables of Jesus are earthly stories with heavenly secrets embedded in them. These secrets come in parables so that "seeing they may see, and not perceive, and hearing they may hear, and not understand" (Mark 4:12). You might read them and call them stories because these secrets are hidden. I would like you to see these parables as mysteries and not just stories. Jesus referred to them as "the mysteries of the kingdom of God" (Luke 8:10), and Paul called them "the hidden wisdom... ordained before the world" (1 Corinthians 2:7).

Friend, one of such mysteries is what will be unveiled to you today, "even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations" (Colossians 1:26). One notable thing about the parable of the sower is that from this we can understand all parables. "And he said unto them, 'Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?'" (Mark 4:13)

Let’s start by laying down some foundations from the parable of the sower:

"[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 wayside, 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.

[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."

Matthew 13:3-9, 23

The sower is God, the Spirit of the Lord. Jesus referred to God as the husbandman (John 15:1). The seed sown is the Word of God (Mark 4:14). The seed was sown into four categories of people: the wayside, the stony ground, the thorns, and the good ground. The Word was sown into their hearts (Mark 4:15). The heart here refers to the spirit of man. Peter said, "Let it be the hidden man of the heart, even a meek and quiet spirit" (1 Peter 3:4). Paul calls the heart of man the "inward man" (2 Corinthians 4:16). The Word was sown in their spirits, so the Word was heard with their spiritual ears and not the physical.

Jesus placed the spirits of men into four categories: the heart by the wayside, the stony heart, the heart of thorns, and the good heart. The principal reason why the Word is sown into our hearts is for us to bear fruits (John 15:1-8). This is why Satan comes to steal the Word, to prevent us from producing fruits. Having laid the foundations, note that understanding this mystery in the parable of the sower helps us position ourselves for the production of the Word of God in our lives.

Stages of Word Production

"[26] And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;

[27] And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

[28] For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.

[29] But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come."

Mark 4:26-29

Friend, the Word of God is produced in three stages. The stages are the blade, the ear, and the full corn (fruit). The earth is the spirit (heart) of man, and the seed is the Word. Jesus illustrates these three stages with a maize seed. The first stage is when the seed springs out of the ground; He calls this the blade. Then, after a while, through water and nutrients absorbed by the root of the young plant, the stems grow longer and stronger, developing the ear. The last stage is the full corn, which is when the fruit has been produced. From this, we get the three stages of the Word production process.

The Blade: When the Word comes out of your heart through your mouth, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Faith, which is the Word—because there is no faith without the Word (Romans 10:17)—is released through words.

The Ear: When you become strong in the Word sown. This is the point where you do not doubt in your heart but believe (Mark 11:24). This is attained by watering the seed, constant hearing, and meditation on the Word sown (Isaiah 55:10-11, Proverbs 4:20-22, Romans 10:17). This helps you move from weak to strong faith. This stage is often recognized by thanksgiving and praise (Romans 4:20).

The Full Corn: This is the point where "you have what you say" (Mark 11:23-24), the place where you bear fruits.

After the Word was sown, all that tried to produce fruits went through these stages, and only 25% produced fruits. Friend, if the Word must work for you, then take time to understand this mystery of how the Word of God is produced.

People By The Wayside

"And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up. Those by the wayside are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved." (Matthew 13:4, Luke 8:12).

The word of God was sown into their hearts (spirit). They heard the word with their spiritual ears, but they did not understand it. So, the seed did not spring up, meaning they did not get to the first stage in the word production cycle, where the word moves out from the heart or spirit through the mouth. Because of this, Satan came immediately to steal the word. John 10:10 talks about the mission of the sower and the thief: the sower gives life by sowing His word, which is spirit and life (John 6:63, John 1:1-5). The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but he achieves these also by sowing 'words,' though his words are deceptive. The Bible records that the enemy has the ability to sow (Matthew 13:24-28).

The thief does not have direct access to sow into the hearts of men, so "he climbeth up some other way" (John 10:1). He tries to get his word into the heart through the mind, the eye, and other human gates that lead to the spirit. If he succeeds in sowing his seed, this seed springs up, and you start speaking his own words instead of the word of God sown in your heart. The thief is said to have stolen the word of God sown in your heart because his own words, which are deceptive, have taken the place of the word of God in your life. Therefore, you start bearing evil fruits. Many are wayside believers. The devil has sown seeds into them that make the word of God of no effect in their lives. These are oftentimes traditions, concepts, or ideologies that form strongholds in their lives (Mark 7:13).

The Stony Ground

"[5] Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up because they had no deepness of earth:

[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."

Matthew 13:5, 20-21

These advanced into the first stage in the word production process because Jesus said, "immediately it sprang up" (Mark 4:5). So that means as the word was sown, they understood it and spoke the word. The thief did not steal the word and prevent it from springing forth. But the Bible still records that they had no root in themselves because of the stony ground, so they believe for a while, and when the enemy comes with temptation, they fall, and the thief kills the young plant and prevents it from producing.

Naturally speaking, because the seed was sown in a stony (rocky) place, it could not produce roots, so the seed could not absorb water and nutrients. That is why it could not survive the heat of the sun. But all this was a result of the nature of the ground the word was sown. A stony ground simply means a stony heart. The Bible talks about the heart of stone; the Lord said He will take away the stony heart and give a heart of flesh to replace it. "That they may walk in my statutes and keep mine ordinances, and do them" (Ezekiel 11:19-20). Therefore, the stony heart must have prevented them from walking in the statutes of God.

One who is not walking in the commandment and ordinances of God, which is "love" (1 John 3:23-24, Romans 13:9-10), is said to have a "stony heart." Water is needed for any seed to grow and produce; the word is the water that helps keep and develop strong faith (Isaiah 55:10-11). But because of the stony heart, the seed cannot develop roots to absorb water to keep the seed growing. So, they believe for a while.

Friend, "break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you" (Hosea 10:12). The word only produces for those who walk in love.

The Heart Of Thorns

"[7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

[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."

Matthew 13:7,22

The Bible records that the word was also sown among thorns, and the interesting thing about this is that the thorns sprung up with the seed and choked the seed. These people attained the first stage, they spoke the word, but before the second stage, the word sown was choked out. It is interesting to note that the thorns talked about here are also 'seeds.' The Bible said, "The thorns sprung up with it and choked it" (Luke 8:7). Therefore, the thorns are seeds, and my opinion is that they were sown by the enemy. Matthew 13:24-30 talks about a man who had sown good seeds, but tares sprung up with his seed, and he said, "An enemy hath done this." But the truth is that the seed was sown among thorns and not the other way around. Thorns are seeds sown by the devil, and they compete for the place of the word of God in your life.

Thorns are seeds of lust and distractions; they are seeds that make you ‘world busy’ and not ‘word busy’. Whenever the word is sown among thorns, the thorns take the watering (nourishment) instead of the word. They take the place of the word. You find that time supposed to be dedicated to the word to develop strong faith, you spend on these thorns sown by the devil.

You find believers too busy to read the word, giving more attention to the thorns sown in them. These evil seeds grow because they are receiving water (constant attention). The seed sown is not being attended to through hearing and meditation. These thorns have deprived the seed of its water, so "it choked the word." Friend, many believers are this way, with hearts full of thorns that choke the word, so the word does not produce for them. The word will work for you!

The Good Heart

"[8] But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

[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 a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

Matthew 13:8,23

Friend, Jesus calls them the "good ground," which means the good heart. These people passed through the three stages of the word production cycle successfully. For these people to have produced the word, it means they lacked all the qualities that the hearts by the wayside, the stony heart, and the heart of thorns had that made them not produce the word of God. That means the word was not stolen by the devil, and they must have been people who walked and obeyed the statutes and ordinances of God, so the seed sown produced roots that supplied water because they possessed the heart of flesh.

Therefore, when temptations came because of the word, they were able to stand because they had developed to become unwaveringly strong in faith. The good hearts are like Abraham; they do not believe for a while. No, they possess enduring faith. It is obvious that the good heart is not a heart full of thorns; if it were, it wouldn't have produced fruits at all. Some let the devil come and sow different seeds into their life. Always busy with the television and never doing anything spiritual, they gossip all day and read deadly books that form non-scriptural ideas and strongholds in their life. But the people with good hearts are people who pay attention to the Word and not the world. They incline their ears to the sayings of God; they look and meditate on the word of God (Proverbs 4:20-22, Joshua 1:8).

Friend, everyone has a choice as to what heart he wants to be. You can decide to stop being stony and prevent the devil from sowing thorns and stealing the word. "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). Indeed, embedded in parables are hidden mysteries of the kingdom.

PRAYER: Father, the heart of a man is in Your palm. Turn my heart into that of a good heart so that the word will work for me!

Jesus is Lord!

Min. Roi