I want to speak for a few moments
to the boys and girls about what it was that was going on last
night that was more profound. Lord Jesus Christ once spoke
a parable about a man who sowed seeds in his field. And in Matthew
chapter 13 and verse 3, we read these words, behold, a sower
went forth to sow. A sower went forth to sow. And that little word behold there
indicates that perhaps the Lord Jesus Christ was actually watching
the man. Maybe as he sat beside the Sea
of Galilee and the crowds gathered around him and he began this
series of parables, which are recounted in various places,
but one of the places is Matthew chapter 13, that he actually
looked across the field and said, behold, a sower went forth to
sow. A parable is a story about ordinary
things that has a spiritual or an extraordinary meaning. It's more than just a story. It's more than just a fable.
It's more than just a myth. It speaks of glorious things,
wonderful things, spiritual things, and yet it uses the simplicity
of just the ordinary things of life, like a sower going forth
to sow seed in his field. And Jesus used this parable of
the sower and of the seed and of the soil and of the activity
that the sower was embarked upon to teach the gospel, to teach
the gospel, to show us what is happening when the gospel is
preached and what is happening in the hearts of men and women
and boys and girls. Now today we use machines to
sow seed. And if anybody wants to know
about the machines that we use to sow seed, speak to the man
at the back of the church and he'll tell you all about them.
But if we had been around at the time of the Lord Jesus, we
would not have seen any machines in the field, but we would have
seen a man simply walking along between the furrows of his field
with a bag of seed around his neck with an open top and he
would be putting his hand into his bag and throwing his seed
as far as he could. Then his other hand in the bag
and throwing it to this side and he would walk up and down
his field until the whole field was covered with the throwing
of this seed. He'd be trying to cast it out
as far as he could to get as big a spread as possible. Why does a farmer, or a gardener
for that matter, sow his seed? Why does he do it? What is his purpose? It might
seem a wasteful exercise. This seed is valuable. This seed
could make bread. This seed could feed my family. And here it is in a bag and I'm
throwing it away. Why would he be doing such a
thing as that? Well, because he hopes that that
dispersed seed will be fruitful when it hits the ground. When
it lands in the ground, he hopes that that one little grain of
seed, of all of that that gets thrown, will grow up and produce
a multitude more seeds, so that he will be able to reap that
seed, gather that seed, and have much more for that one little
seed that he sowed. But you see, The point about
the farmer and the sower and his seed is that when he sows
that seed, he doesn't know what kind of ground it's going to
land in. And that was the message of the
Lord's parable. Jesus used this picture and he
used the different kind of ground that that seed would land upon
in order to explain the spiritual effects of the gospel in people's
lives. Now the Lord Jesus Christ was
never a farmer. And yet, when the sower went
into his field, he turned to the people that were with him,
that were following him, and he said, behold. Because he knew
that while that was just an ordinary activity, it had a much more
significant meaning when it was explained and it was set out. as the sower sowed the seeds. Some of the seeds, says the Lord
Jesus, will land on hard, stony ground. And when the ground is
too hard, the seed lies on top of it. It can't get into the
soil. It can't get between the grains
of the soil to find a place to hide in the darkness so that
it can put its roots down. And it just lies on top of the
hard ground. And when it's lying there, people
are walking along because it's probably a path or a road and
they're stepping on it and they're crushing that seed and they're
killing it. And the Lord says, the birds
of the air come down and they peck that seed and they eat that
seed. And Matthew tells us, The Lord
explains it and Matthew gives us the explanation that that
seed that lands on the hard ground is like people who hear the gospel
but they don't understand what they're hearing. There were people
like that at the rescue mission last night. People who didn't
understand what they were hearing. It was just right over their
heads. Right over. No idea what that
man's talking about. No idea what he's trying to say.
I wish it was over so that I could get outside to do what it is
I want to do this evening. I wish he would stop speaking. They don't think that the message
that they hear applies to them in any way. They've more important
things to do. It's a message about sin. What
sin? I don't know anything about sin.
It's a message about grace. Who needs grace? It's a message
about hell and heaven. I don't believe in that. It's a message about judgment
and redemption. And it's meaningless to them
and they just ignore it. But do you know that the devil
doesn't ignore it? and the devil comes down like
those birds of the air and he picks up that seed and he takes
it away. Some seed when the sower sowed
his seed landed on stony ground. This wasn't the same hard ground
that it lay on the surface. This was stony ground. And what
it seems to mean is that there was a thin layer of soil. on
that ground, not deep, just a thin layer, but just enough for that
seed to get purchased, just enough for it to get in there on top
of the slab of rock that was underneath. And it manages to
start putting its roots down. And instantly it sends down its
roots But the roots discover, the seed discovers that there's
no depth to the soil. And those are the people that
they hear and immediately at once they think, oh, what a great
message. What a wonderful thing. This
is super, this is great. Heaven, I want to go to heaven.
I don't want to go to hell. I want to find peace. I want
to find the good things that God has to give for me. And they
like it and they take that message and they say, yes, yes, count
me in. But then when trouble comes,
when hardship comes, When the sun gets too hot for that young
plant that has been growing there, there's not enough root for the
seed to grow and it withers and it dies. There's not enough depth. There's not enough understanding.
There's not enough seriousness. And that problem, whatever it
might be, just takes people's minds away and they say, oh,
if that's what it is to be a Christian, if that's what it takes to follow
Christ, it's too much for me. And they go away and they do
whatever it is that they want to do. Some people hear the gospel
and they get very excited, but their interest is shallow. And
when trouble comes on that Christian pathway, as it must come for
all pilgrims that are going to heaven, then that seed is forgotten. The gospel is abandoned and they
don't grow any more. Some seed falls amongst thorns. And here there is soil enough
for the seed to grow, but it is growing in soil that hasn't
been looked after. It's growing in soil that is
untended and unkempt. And there in the soil, as well
as the seed, there are weeds and there are thorns. And the
seed grows. because the soil's there. But
soon it discovers that it's having to contend with the weeds and
it's having to fight with the thorns. And after a little while,
that seed begins to get choked by all the weeds that are growing
there. And sometimes the gospel can
be attractive, but the world and its riches and its pleasures,
they're attractive too. And over a period of time, and
it may be a long period of time, that there seemed to be growth,
there seemed to be development, there seemed to be a fruitfulness
in that life, and yet, and yet, slowly but surely, that gets
choked out as the weeds grow up in our lives and the thorns
begin to choke us. Bit by bit, the seed begins to
fail. Bit by bit, the Christian profession
shrivels up and dies. Now I think that we have all,
especially some of the older people here today, I think that
we have all seen examples of these kinds of soil. I think
when we go to the rescue mission and preach, that soil is right
there in front of us. But we mustn't just think that
it's when we go somewhere like the rescue mission. Do you know
that that soil is right here today in the church? Do you know
that that soil is right here in people's hearts today, right
now? There are some of you who will
hear what I have to say today and you'll think, what does that
to do with me? And there are others who'll get
quite excited about this, but it'll only last a little while.
There are others. And maybe in two years' time
or in four years' time or in five or 10 years' time, you won't
want to come and worship here anymore. Think about the people
that have passed through this church in the last 10 years or 20 years. Where are they today? Oh, they
sat and they listened. They were open-eared, they smiled.
They shook the preacher's hand at the door vigorously. Enjoyed
that, Pastor? Good word, good word. And where
are they today? You see, the wheats and the thorns,
the pleasures of this world, the things that take our attention,
these pull us down. When the gospel seed is sown, where is it going to land when
it comes into your ears, when it comes into your heart? Some
seed fell on good ground, and here it grew and it multiplied. The gospel touched the hearts
of these people where that good ground was. The gospel entered
their soul. It changed their hearts and it
grew up within them. There was a change. There was
a change in that seed so that it had vigour, it had strength
and it started to develop and it started to multiply. And when
we think that this soil is good soil, How did it get to be good? We must remember that it was
that sower, that farmer, if you like, who prepared that soil,
who went out and turned that soil, who made sure that when
that seed was sown in that soil, that the soil would receive it
well. He nourished it, and all spiritual
growth comes from God. And as the seed speaks of the
gospel and the ground speaks of the heart of the believer,
so we see that the mercy of God extends to sinners when he prepares
their heart and sends the gospel as a seed into their heart. What kind of reception will that
seed have in your heart? Is our heart hard towards the
gospel? Is our attitude shallow towards
the gospel? Is our thoughts likely to be
taken up by thorny, weedy things that come in and take our attention? Take care how you answer that
question, because time will tell. And it may be in a little while,
you're not with the Lord's people. You're not sharing in the fellowship
of the gospel anymore. And whose fault will that be? There is one interesting little
point to make. The Lord says, take heed or take
care how you hear. Luke chapter eight, verse 18.
Let us be careful to listen to the gospel. If you don't understand
what you're hearing, ask someone. Ask someone. Make sure you understand. Make sure that these things are
not strange and unusual and peculiar to you. Do troubles make us doubt? Does
hardship distract us to the point that we might be tempted to deny
and to depart from the truth? Take care. And if we find ourselves
being distracted by other things, other than the gospel, then beware. The sower sows when the word
is preached. May the Lord bless that word
to our hearts today as the gospel is declared in our presence.
Amen.