Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Matthew chapter 13 and reading
prayer text verse 37. He answered and said unto them,
He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man. Matthew 13 and verse 37. And what is upon my spirit are
these two words, good seed. In our text, indeed, is spoken
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, and is also spoken
of His people. They are spoken of as the good
seed. But we would ever remember that
it is the Lord as the corn of wheat. that was to fall into
the earth and die, that was then to bring forth much fruit. And so in that sense, when we
think of the good seed, we think of our Lord Jesus Christ as the
good seed, the seed of the woman that should bruise the serpent's
head, and we think of his people as the good seed that he sows. a people and a saviour united
and joined together, one godly seed. This parable indeed is
a very solemn one and the text here is in the interpretation
of it, the Lord answering the disciples that want him to have
declared unto them the parable of the tears. And our text is
the first verse of our Lord's application, giving very clear
statements of each part of the parable. He that soweth the good
seed is the son of man, the field is the world, the good seed are
the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children
of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is
the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers
are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered
and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world.
The sudden man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather
out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do
iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There
shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, Then shall the writers
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father, who
hath ears to hear, let him hear. Two sorts of people, two seeds,
two places where they end up eternally. May we truly tremble
at what is set forth here, and this is not Looking at the world
and looking at the church is looking at the church. It's looking
at those who are making profession of being in the church, seeming
to be like the Lord's people. In the Lord's solemn word, let
them grow together to the harvest. May we be searched by that as
to whether we are that good seed or whether we are the test. the
difference is seen in the fruitfulness. If we had two lots of seed, and
of course a farmer when he sows his seed, he is trusting that
that seed that has been supplied by the supplier is good seed,
that he doesn't expend all the time preparing his ground, all
the time sowing it, that the seed is not good. And he waits
and waits until it starts to spring up, And even then it's
not until the ears start to form and to fill out that then he
knows that that is good seed. And so it is something that is
manifested by fruits. By their fruits ye shall know
them. Without me ye can do nothing,
from me is thy fruit found. And so it is the Lord Jesus Christ
that is vital to show where we are joined to, whether to him
or not to him. Interesting, in the parables
of our Lord, sometimes as in the first parable, he's likening
his people really to the ground that bringeth forth different.
And now it is the sea that is thrown into the ground. Many different ways, different
angles, the Lord shows who his people are. I want to look this
evening, with the Lord's help, mainly for these two words, the
good seed. I want to confine my remarks
to four points. Firstly, Christ, the good seed
of the woman. And then secondly, the good seed
that Christ shall see. Isaiah 53 verse 10. He shall see his seed. And thirdly,
the good seed of Christ preached. As He is preached, as the Word
is set forth, that is the good seed of the Gospel. And then lastly, the good seed
that shall serve Christ. Psalm 22, at the end of that
Psalm, a seed shall serve Him, and it shall be accounted to
the Lord for a generation. But firstly, the Lord Jesus Christ
is set forth as the good seed. Our Lord had a lawyer come to
him at one time and address him, good master, what shall I do
to inherit eternal life? And our Lord turned to him and
said, why callest thou me good? There is only one good, and that
is God. Well, our Lord Jesus Christ truly
is God, but our Lord is highlighting then that He, as Emmanuel, God
manifest in the flesh, is what that lawyer said was true and
right, but would not have been right for any other but the Son
of God. We think of the very first promise
given in the Garden of Eden, that the seed of the woman should
bruise the serpent's head. That good seed, the promise that
is put forth in the Word of God, how precious that must have been
to the early church, you might say, to mankind, the Lord's people,
that they hung on those promises. We can look back on many, many
promises, but first with Abel and those there they had the
promise and the type of the shed blood, the coats, the clothes,
Adam and Eve, and Abel obviously by faith very clearly saw the
need of a blood sacrifice. But how precious to have a promise.
One of the great marks of those that live and die by faith in
Hebrews 11 verse 13 is that they saw the promises afar off and
they embraced those promises. It is a blessed thing to embrace
the promises of God as that is what my soul needs, that is what
will do my soul good. There is my hope in the promises
of God, not in self, not in my works, but in what God has promised
to do. And in these Gospel days we think
of what our Lord said concerning John Baptist, that he said that
the least in the Kingdom of God was greater than he. He said
there's none greater than John the Baptist but the least in
the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven. But of course John
Baptist never saw our Lord crucified. He never saw him raised from
the dead. He never had the Holy Spirit
poured out as on the day of Pentecost. He He belonged as it were to
the prophets, not to where we are in the kingdom which from
Christ and to the end of the world, the kingdom of God is
preached and men press unto it. This is the word that is set
forth on Christ's commission, go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every preacher. So then after the promises to
Adam, to our first parents, then there's a promise given to Abraham. As he offered up his son, my
son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
And that ram was provided in the thicket caught by its horns,
not its fleece would have been injured if it would have been
with the fleece, but the lamb had to be spotless. And our Lord
said, Abraham saw my day and rejoiced at it. He saw the substitutionary
offering. He, by faith, received Isaac,
as it were, from the dead. And God said to him, that in
thee and in thy seed shall all nations be blessed, because thou
hast obeyed my voice. And the Apostle Paul makes it
very clear in Galatians that God said to Abraham, not seeds
as of many, but seed which is one, which is Christ. In Christ shall all nations be
blessed. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
in that first promise, the seed of the woman and then reaffirmed
with Abraham is expected a good seed in the line of the human
race. There would be those that should
come that would not be tainted with the sin of Adam. No, Job,
he struggled with this. He said, how can a clean thing
come out of an unclean? When we think of things that
are hidden from us, that are dark and mysterious, and we cannot
work them out, think of those Old Testament saints that also
struggled in this way. Job didn't know of the overshadowing
of the Holy Spirit. He didn't know that holy thing
which shall be born of thee. He knew it had to be holy. He
knew it had to be a good seed. But how could it be as coming
from the sinful line of Adam? And we know how God brought that
about. should be a real reminder to
us to trust in the Lord. When the Lord promises a thing,
says a thing, we always want to know how is the Lord going
to perform it? How is He going to do it? You
might have come this evening thinking of something, some exercise,
some burden, something before you, even in the word that Satan
is using to trip you up, how can this happen? Leave that to
the Lord. Do not interpretations belong
unto God. No, the Lord said to Abraham
that thy seed shall be a stranger in a strange land, and they shall
afflict them four hundred years, and in the fourth generation
they shall come forth. But he didn't tell Abraham how
they would go down into Egypt. He didn't tell him all the steps
of the way and those that followed on after. They had like Jacob
to walk it out. And in the middle of walking
it out, he says, all these things are against me. You might feel
that this evening. All these things are against
me. And you're trying to work it out. Well, dear Job, he also
said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. He shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth. Many things had been revealed
to him that he knew. and they were things concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. Why don't you just look then
at a few things that really mark out our Lord Jesus Christ as
that good seed. The first is this. He was sent
by the Father. This is one message that our
Lord constantly gave here below. that he came not of his own,
but his Father sent him into the world. Who gave thee this
authority? By what authority sayest thou
these things? Those that challenged him on
his authority. My Father worketh hitherto, and
I work. The works that I do, they bear
witness of me. They bear witness of the Father
working in the Son. sent by the Father as the seed
of the woman, that good seed. He's a good seed in that he is
the near kinsman for his people. Absolutely vital, that aspect
of the seed of the Son of Man. That he should be made like unto
his brethren, yet sin accepted. That he should be in a position
to redeem, the beautiful book of Ruth, In Bowens it sets forth
the glory of the Redeemer. One that can redeem. You know
it's always lovely when you come to the end of chapter 3 and Ruth
sits still, my daughter. The man will not be in rest until
he's finished the thing this day. And the last chapter, you
don't read of what Ruth is doing. You read all of what Bowens is
doing for Ruth. And he's gathering her to be
His bride, His. And through that seed and through
that line then in that story, in that account, of course, is
one of the main reasons why we have the Book of Ruth at the
end of Ruth tracing out the line to David, the line to Christ,
that good seed. And so He is truly man. Now there are some that have
questioned was our Lord Jesus Christ truly God? He is, God
manifest in the flesh. If you have seen me, you have
seen my father also, the divinity of Christ. The Jehovah's Witnesses,
the Priests of Delphians, they would try to take that away and
say he is not divine. But then there are those that
would do the other way and they would say he is not really human.
And so take away all of his sufferings, all of what he went through.
He didn't really feel it because he was sustained, he was helped.
He didn't feel pain like we had. He didn't feel weariness or sorrow
like we have. And it all undermines the real
humanity of our Lord that knoweth our frame. No sinful infirmities
he took upon himself. But all of that which belongs
to our frame, apart from sin, He knew what it was. And we have
those abundant evidences of His weariness, His sleeping, His
groans, His sighs, the pains that He bore. May we never minimize
that. He is the good seed because He
is truly God and truly man, unique. There is none other like Him. Then we have that he is the acceptable
sacrifice. You know, the Jews must have
been very careful in trying to find out a spotless lamb, to
try and find out a sacrifice that was acceptable. Difficult
as well to get someone that was clean enough even to be able
to offer it. But you know it's not set forth
that man's able to do that. And the law of God is set forth
so clearly in such detail. And you think, well, how can
anyone fulfill that law? No one could but the good seed,
the good man, the Lord Jesus Christ. The law was given that
sin might abound, that it might be seen that there is none good,
there's none righteous, no, not one. so that the Lord Jesus Christ,
that good seed, is set before us as the acceptable sacrifice
and we have the empty tomb as the assurance of that. He hath
given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from
the dead. So, reverently, if there had
been any sin, one sin, anything at all, he would never, could
never have risen from the dead. And then we have the good seed.
In all of his life a perfect righteousness was brought out.
I believe it is important to distinguish between the righteousness
of God in his divinity and that which was brought out by our
Lord upon this earth. There are those things that God
cannot communicate to sinners. But there are those things in
the Lord Jesus Christ, His righteousness. This is the name wherewith He
shall be called the Lord Our Righteousness. This is the name
wherewith She shall be called the Church of God, the Lord Our
Righteousness. And it is imputed righteousness.
Our sins upon Him, His righteousness upon us. That good seed that
was raised up so we may be partakers of His righteousness. Now when our Lord Jesus Christ
died, He said at the beginning, in His death, in that seed dying,
being put in the earth and dying, then there is brought forth much
fruit. It is John in his Gospel that
sets this forth in John chapter 12 And verse 24, Verily, verily,
I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground
and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. And our Lord says this just after
it's said, the hour has come that the Son of Man should be
glorified. The good seed of his people is
only as their union in Christ. Not in themselves, but only in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is that that I want to
look then in our second point. That good seed that Christ shall
see. In Isaiah we read, he shall see
his seed, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. The Lord Jesus Christ seeing
that seed, seeing those that were given him, we know of course
Father gave to the Son, a people to redeem. Thine they were, and
Thou gavest them Thee. Hymn writer says, He saw me lost
and ruined in the fall, loved me notwithstanding all. He knew
then to love them with an everlasting love, and therefore with loving
kindness to draw them. It is a blessed thing that when
our Lord Jesus Christ died, he saw his sin. Some would say Christ
has died for the whole world, just as a potential to put away
sin. But in taking away the particular
redemption of Christ, you take away the particular love that
he bore to his people in bearing their own sin, their our sins,
in his body on the tree. May we always be mindful of what
is said here in Isaiah. in the sufferings of the Lord. His people were not hidden from
Him. He knew for whom He died. He knew whose sins He was bearing. He knew what He was doing for
them. I lay down my life for the sheep. Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold, them must I also bring. And so Isaiah sets forth
not only Christ's sufferings, but it sets forth our Lord viewing
His people in the midst of those sufferings, in what He was going
through. And so that good seed that Christ
shall see, He shall see the fruit of His death. That which we read
in John, with the seed put into the ground and die, and then
a people that should be raised from the dead, a people that
should be led forth as captivity captive, led forth from death
unto life in baptism, buried with him, buried by baptism into
death and risen again with him in newness of life. takes that seed, he puts it in
the ground, and then sees that stalk coming up, and from it
many other grains of seed. He knows that all of that came
from that one seed, that one grain. And this is what we're
to understand. Our Lord saw that as He died. All of His people spring forth
from His death. That good seed brings forth good
seed. It doesn't bring forth corrupt
seed. It brings forth good seed. And it brings forth seed to the
honour and glory of God. He shall see His seed. He shall
see them in the fall. He shall see them called. Now when our Lord ascended up
into heaven, He is appearing in the presence of God for us. but I believe right from the
very beginning, he could see a people that were to be coming
to this world at the time set and appointed by God, time and
place, all appointed, were by him, who fixed our first and
our second birth. And he saw his seed, he saw them,
and he loved them, and he appointed them everything in their lives. It is the knowledge of the Lord
of His people. You know David says in Psalm
139, such knowledge is too great for me. And when we view what
the Lord was viewing in His death and in His sufferings, we view
our Lord seeing His people and seeing them call, seeing them
come forth, seeing them come to faith, seeing them joined
to the church militant, seeing them as they come to the end
of their journey. The parable that we read, it
speaks of the end of the world, it speaks of the end of the journey.
He sees them then gathered safely with him. Father I will that
they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they
may behold my glory. I believe when we look at the
sufferings of the Lord, the Lord could see all along every step
of the way for his people, in every part of it, what he has
done for them, what he's appointed for them, and it's all bound
up with his death. This is why it's so vital with
the Church of God, this do in remembrance of me. Those that
have been redeemed at the same time, by the same dear Son of
God, in the same place, in the same way, by the same precious
blood, they are to gather around the table of the Lord and they
are to show forth His death. Because it's in His death that
they live. And it is because through His
death that they are quickened into life. They are partakers
of that seed, that good seed. They are born from above, they're
not born from beneath. They're born of a heavenly and
a good seed. So it's a good seed that Christ
should see. May that be sweet to us to think.
The Lord saw us when He suffered. The Lord saw us when He took
us to redeem us. The Lord saw us when He put us
into this world, and when He called by grace, and all the
events surrounding that, the Lord beheld it all. It's not
done in the corner. It's done when the Lord is not
aware of it. Thou God seest me, here performeth
the thing which is appointed for me. and the Lord's appointed
him, and all flows forth from his sufferings and from his death.
And then we have thirdly, we have the seed, the good seed
of the Word preached, the Lord Jesus Christ preached. The Apostle
Paul says, I am determined to know nothing among you, say,
Jesus Christ and him crucified. In our text, in the chapter of
it, it speaks about the word of the kingdom. Verse 19, when
anyone heareth the word of the kingdom. With the sower, the
first hearer couldn't understand it. The last one that brought
forth fruit could understand it. The difference is understanding
or not. And you think of how our Lord
When he met with the children away to Emmaus, he opened all
the scriptures, the things concerning himself. Later on in the Upper
Room, then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the
scriptures and fill it with a new note. Understand us, though,
what thou readest. How vital it is and what a mark
of being of that good seed that the Lord gives an understanding. Each one has a measure appointed
by God, but that vital simple understanding of their standing
in Christ and what Christ is to them. And when they hear then
their gospel, they think of the letters to the churches, he that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And after all these parables
our Lord spoke, He that hath an ear, let him hear. Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of the Lord, and the understanding
through the word. But as the eunuch said to Philip,
How can I, except some man guide me? Now just that account is
very beautiful really. Real encouragement to those who
come into the house of God and say, I don't understand that
passage. I don't know what that means. The Lord's servant takes
his text and he opens it up and the understanding is open, you
throw it at the chapel, I know what that means. And how often
it is, the day following, John 6, you have the miracle of the
loaves and the fishes one day, you have the teaching the next
day of not labouring for the bread that perisheth, but that
which endureth to eternal life. And you get those things coming
together. We know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose. And the Lord uses providence
and grace, the Word, as well as what He is doing in the lives
of His people. Sometimes it is the Lord will
speak the Word in the Lord's house and then in the week There's
that added to it, other times it will come before and you'll
come into the Lord's house and the Word meets what the Lord
has done in Providence. He is the God of Providence and
He is the God of the Word of God and He meets those things
together, brings those things together. He is the good seed
of Christ preached, the living soul. will feed upon a living
Saviour. He'll feed upon that good seed
from Heaven. It's a blessed thing to have
an appetite for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It's one
thing for a minister to be charged and fulfil that charge of preaching
Christ and Him crucified. It's another thing for a people
to have an appetite for it and desire it unwanted. those two
and in one sense the hardest thing for a preacher is to preach
is Christ Crucified because he must walk in it and he must know
the Lord and love the Lord and walk closely to Him for there
to be any savour at all when he preaches Christ Crucified.
May the Lord keep us, especially in the ministry, close to Him
that it is not just the their doctrines of the gospel and of
Christ crucified set forth, but the sweet savour of it. There
has been a savour to our own soul and that we are able to
bring that forth to the people too. A good seed preached and
it is the good seed that have a hearing ear for it. The two
go together, they match together. It's a good thing where the Lord
gives that discernment in that way, that a soul needs a living
soul, needs living food, needs a living saviour, he that was
here and is alive for evermore. On to look then lastly at the
good seed that shall serve Christ. Psalm 22 of course begins with
the words of our Lord, prophesy the very words that he spoke,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The words that he
spoke upon the cross. And so then you have at the end
of that psalm that which is spoken of his seed. A seed shall serve
him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation, and
they shall no uncertainty about it, they shall and shall declare
his righteousness unto a people that shall be born that he hath
done this. Now quite often I pray that the
Lord would so bless our young people and rising generation
that they will be able to tell another generation, not just
by what they have heard, not just by rote, but by personal
experience and sweetness and feeling, the preciousness of
Christ. The Lord will always have a seed
to serve him, right to the end of the world. Though it is said
that when he cometh shall he find faith on the earth, he will
find faith and there will be those that when he comes they
shall look up for their redemption draweth nigh. We know that the
Lord will always have a succession of his people and it's lovely
to see that. Lovely to see the Lord following
on to another generation, a seed that is to serve him And how
do they serve him? Obeying him, doing his will,
being what he'd have them to be, and where he'd have them
to go, and what he'd have them to say. What would we think of
an employer that had an employee that whenever he's directed to
do something, he says, I don't want to do that. I'd like to
do this instead. I don't want to do it your way,
I'd like to do it another way. It'd be very difficult, wouldn't
you say, well what kind of a servant have I got that everything I
say is questioning everything and turning it around. But when
the Lord has his seed to serve him, it's a blessed thing. You know, the Apostle Paul saw
when the Lord began with him, Lord what will thou have me to
do? Immediately. He's asking that. You might have
come in this evening. What will Thou have me to do?
Don't be like the children of Israel in Jeremiah's day who
professed that they would do whatever the Lord would tell
them to do. But ten days the Lord was silent
and then Jeremiah had to bring the message that they had dissembled
in their hearts. Nor he planned to go down to
Egypt. They were not at all sincere
in professing to obey and to do what the Lord would have them
to do. May the Lord make us like Nathanael,
behold, an Israelite indeed in whom is no guile. What you saw
was what you get. Here was a man that the Lord
could see. He was honest and sincere on
those things that he was seeking. He was truly seeking those things
above, no deceit, no suppleness. He was truly desiring the Kingdom
of God. May the Lord make us that good
seed in these respects and to be able to see in Christ that
good seed. It's very hard for the people
of God at times to see as it were the mark upon their to see
and say, well, I'm that good seed. But when we look at how
the Word of God describes the good seed and its relationship
to Christ, what is our relationship to Christ? Are we having to confess
that without Thee I can do nothing? Our dependence upon the Lord
for fruitfulness, our desire to serve Him and to be of those
that show forth His praise here below. You know, we gather for
harvest and thanksgiving and the parable here, there will
be a harvest, a harvest at the end of the world and may we be
found here below of those that do show the marks of the good
seed. Remember, let them grow together
the harvest, for the husband they could see the difference,
and the workers could see the difference. May we be honest
with ourselves. Is there that desire that we
might show forth the praises of Him, that our fruit is found
from Him, and that we desire to be living close to the Lord. You know it's a vital thing that
we be close to the Lord, that we'd be like Mary sitting at
His feet and hearing His word. Martha was loved, Mary was loved,
but if you like, Mary had a greater evidence or token of being that
good seed, and it was in her closeness, in her hearing, in
her love to the Lord. I believe she discerned and that's
why she came later on in the lead up to Christ's sufferings.
She discerned he was near the time when he should be offered
and she comes with the ointment and our Lord clearly says she
anointed me for the burying. May we be like that, to be living
so close to him that we may discern what he is doing, hear his word,
and be given that clear assurance that we are of this good seed
and we shall be gathered into his heavenly garden at the last
with him. The Lord is already there as
the firstfruits and those that spring forth from him shall be
with him as he is prayed. Father I will that thou, them
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am that they may behold
my glory. May the Lord bless thee. Amen.