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Henry Mahan

The Parable of the Sower

Matthew 13:3
Henry Mahan September, 6 1981 Video & Audio
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Henry T. Mahan Tape Ministry
Zebulon Baptist Church
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
Tom Harding, Pastor

Henry T. Mahan DVD Ministry
Todd's Road Grace Church
4137 Todd's Road
Lexington, KY 40509
Todd Nibert, Pastor

For over 30 years Pastor Henry Mahan delivered a weekly television message. Each message ran for 27 minutes and was widely broadcast. The original broadcast master tape of this message has been converted to a digital format (WMV) for internet distribution.

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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I want you to open your Bibles
this morning to the book of Matthew I'll be reading from chapter
13 of the book of Matthew verse 3 but now we'll be using most
of this chapter I'm speaking to you today on this subject
the parable of the sower the parable of the sower our Lord
spoke to the multitude by parables The disciples asked him one day,
they said, why do you teach them in parables? And he said, because
they have eyes but they do not see, and ears but they do not
hear, and hearts but they do not understand. Blessed are your
eyes, they see, and your ears, they hear, and your hearts, they
understand. But I speak to the multitude in parables, and he
spake many parables. And this one is the parable of
the sower. Now let's look at it in Matthew
13, 3. And you just keep your Bible open to that particular
chapter. And let's look at the parable
of the sower. It says, And he spake many things
unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to
sow. Now what our Lord says here is
that a certain farmer in an eastern country one morning gathered
his seed together and put it in a sack and went out into the
field and he began to sow the seed he began to scatter it in
every direction the sower went forth to sow and he scattered
the seed in every direction now there was a pathway along the
field where people walked where the ground was hard and well
packed with footprints of the people who had walked there and
some of the seed that the farmer sowed fell on that hard, fallow,
well-packed ground. And our Lord said that it did
not come forth, it just lay there. And as the sower went on across
the field throwing the seed, the birds in the trees waited
until he had gone and then they swooped down and picked up the
seed that had fallen on the hard, fallow ground. Now that's the
first type of ground he tells us about he said the sower scattered
the seed and some of it fell on this pathway on the hard fallow
unplowed ground and of course the seed did not take root it
did not bear it just lay there and after a while the birds of
the air came and bore it away and he continued to sow and some
of the seed fell on rocky stony ground in other words there was
a part of the field where the plow had not turned over the
dirt and the dirt was just a thin layer on top of the rocks and
some of the seed fell there on this rocky soil it fell there
where the soil was so thin right next to the rock and he said
this seed took root and sprang up quickly the little tender
plant came up quickly but then the sun came out and because
the plant had no root because the plant did not reach down
into the moisture deep within the ground it withered and died
and then the sower moved on and he said the sower scattered the
seed and there was a corner of the field in which the thorns
and briars and vines grew and some of the seed fell among the
thorns and the briars and it sprang up but as it grew the
thorns and the briars and the vines grew and choked the plant
and it did not bear any fruit it died also and then our Lord
said that some of the seed fell on good ground Ground that had
been plowed, and ground that had been prepared, and ground
that was rich and ready to receive the seed. And when the seed fell
on the good ground, it began to grow, and it brought forth
much fruit. Some a hundredfold, and some
sixtyfold, and some fortyfold. Now there are the four types
of ground. Now you remember that. We're going to look into all
four types of ground that our Lord mentions here. He said a
sower went forth to sow. and as he scattered the seed,
some of it fell on hard ground un-plowed ground, fallow ground
and the birds of the air just swooped down and took it away
and then some of it fell on real thin soil that covered rocks
and it grew up quickly but then the sun came out and it withered
and died and some of it fell among thorns and briars and they
choked the plant but some of it fell on good ground and it
brought forth Some a hundredfold, not all the same in the whole
field, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold and some fortyfold. Now when he had left the multitude,
his disciples came over to him privately and they said, Lord
declare unto us the parable of the sower, tell us what you're
teaching the people. open our understanding and tell
us about the parable of the sower and that's what I want to do
just taking the scripture now you stay in Matthew chapter 13
and this is recorded by Luke and also by Mark and we'll be
referring to some of those verses but Matthew 13 mainly first of
all our Lord said this to them he said the seed is the word
of God now that's the seed the preacher of the gospel is the
sower and he goes forth over the world, wherever he goes,
by television, or by radio, or from the pulpit, or the missionaries
out yonder in the jungles, wherever a man preaches, a true minister
of the gospel, he's like the sower scattering precious seed. Now what is that seed? Our Lord
said the seed is the word of God. Now when the sower goes
forth with the seed, the first thing we know about the sower
and his seed is this, he didn't make the seed. God made the seed. And the same thing is true of
the man who preaches the gospel. If a man doesn't preach the gospel,
if he preaches human reason and human logic, if he preaches human
tradition, if he preaches ritualism, yes, that's his seed. He makes
it up. It's dead seed. It's lifeless
seed. But when a preacher goes forth bearing the precious seed,
the Word of God, it is not his own seed, it is God's Word. God makes the seed. The scripture
says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. In other
words, all scripture is God breathed. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit to write the word. And this is
the seed that was sowed. It's God's word. Paul said to
young Timothy, preach the word. And God said, my word which goeth
forth out of my mouth, will not return unto me void. It shall
accomplish that whereunto I have sent it. Now the seed is God's
word. The sower is the preacher and
the seed is God's word. Now notice the second thing about
the seed. It is living seed. God's word is the living word. Listen to this scripture. We
are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed. by the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever. One time an atheist came to a
preacher and he said to him, how do you know that God made
all things? He says, I can make things that
you claim God made. He said, look, I've made a seed
of corn. I have in my hand a seed of corn
that I made. And I have a grain of corn, and
I have in my hand beside it a grain of corn that you said God made.
Now, which one is the grain of corn that God made? And the man
looked at them carefully, and they did resemble. They looked
very much alike, both just shriveled, dried grains of corn. And, you
know, it's very difficult to tell wax flowers from real flowers. But the preacher looked at these
two grains of corn, and he said to the man, he said, I'll tell
you if you'll give me a few days. I'll tell you which grain of
corn you made and which grain of corn God made. And the man
said to him, why do you need a few days? Well, he said, I'll
tell you, I'm going to plant them. And the one that comes
up is the one God made, because it has life in it. And you may
make a grain of corn that resembles the one God made, and you may
make one that no one can tell the difference by looking at
it, but the one that has life, that's the one that God made.
So this word that we preach, This seed that we sow, this precious
seed, is living seed. It's the living Word of God.
We're born again by the living Word of God. The Word gives life. James 1.18, of his own will,
beget he us with the word of life. The word of truth. Now
notice the third thing about this preacher who sows the seed. Our Lord said first the sower
is the son of man and the seed is the word of God. The living
word of God. But here's something else about
it. The preacher's task is to preach the word. He is not responsible
for the harvest. His task is to preach the word.
He's not responsible for the harvest. God is the Lord of the
harvest. The harvest is in the hands of
God. It says over in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 5 and 6, Paul said this,
I have planted, Apollos has watered, God giveth the increase. So then,
neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth anything.
but God that giveth the increase. So the Lord of the harvest is
the God of glory. The preacher's responsibility
is to be true and faithful in preaching the word. in sowing
the seed just like the farmer who goes out and scatters the
seed he cannot make it grow he cannot make it yield fruit God
is the Lord of the harvest but he can plow and he can water
and he can fertilize and he can sow the seed and that's our responsibility
as the ministers of the gospel is to preach the word of God
we are to preach the word about God His character, His attributes,
His glory, His gospel, His saving mercy, His judgment, His wrath,
His truth. We are to preach the word about
man, his fall into sin, his need of a savior, his inability. We
are to tell men the truth about themselves. And then we are to
preach the truth of the word of God about Christ. That's what
Paul said to the Corinthians. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It
is my business as a preacher of the gospel to faithfully preach
the word about Christ. The word about God, and the word
about man, and the word about Christ, and it's my business
to faithfully preach the word about salvation. What is salvation? For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Salvation, redemption, is not
in the law, it's in Christ. Salvation, redemption is not
in good works or human merit, it's in Christ. Salvation, redemption
is not in the ceremonies of religion, the ordinances of religion, they
have their place. They have their place, they do
what God gave them to do, but they do not save, Christ saves.
We are to preach the truth about judgment, the truth about eternity. We don't know anything about
the soul, we can't tell, as I'm preaching right now. These words
are falling on different types of soil. This is the Word of
God. The truth of God's Word. And it's falling on different
types of soil. And I don't know anything about
the soil, but I do know something about the seed. I do know something
about the Word, and that's my responsibility, and that's my
business. It's not the harvest. God is
the Lord of the harvest. It's my business to proclaim
the truth. The truth about God, the truth
about Christ, the truth about man, the truth about redemption,
the truth about salvation, the truth about death, judgment,
and eternal condemnation. So that's the first thing. The
disciples said, Lord, declare unto us this parable. And he
said, well, first of all, the sower is the son of man, the
preacher of the gospel, whether it be our Lord or his apostles
or those today who faithfully preach his word. And the seed
which is scattered, which is sown, is the word of God. Now,
first of all, he said some fell on hard, fallow ground. I told
you a moment ago there was a pathway. So you who were raised on farms,
you know something about the garden or the fields and how
you have a pathway around the field and sometimes a pathway
through the field. And as this sower scattered the
seed, some of the seed, as he scattered it, fell there on that
hard, fallow ground that had not been plowed. People had walked
on it and pressed it down. And the seed just lay there.
That's all, just lay there. And those birds were sitting
up in the tree, watching. And as the farmer moved on, they
just swooped down, picked up the seed, and bore it off. Now
what did the Lord say about that fallow ground? Are you listening?
Our Lord said, that fallow ground, that hard, baked, beaten, hard
saw, are people who are exposed to the preaching of the word.
They hear the word. It's preached to them. But they
have no interest. They're totally indifferent.
They're unconcerned and they're hardened. And they may be hardened
in sin. They may be hardened in their
tradition. They may be hardened in their
unconcern. They may be hardened in their
religion as well as in their sin. They may be hardened in
the traditions of religion, but somehow these people get in the
way of the gospel. Somehow their path crosses the
path of the gospel. Maybe right now, maybe someone
has gotten up this morning and read the paper and had a cup
of coffee and walked over and turned this program on. And here
I am preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm talking about
the things of the kingdom of God. I'm talking about the mercy
and love of God in Christ. I'm talking about the precious,
atoning, redeeming, cleansing, satisfying, sanctifying blood
of the Son of God. I'm talking about the one mediator
between God and men. And some people are sitting there
and you're hearing these words, but they're just falling on hard
hearts. Hearts heartened by sin or heartened
by tradition or heartened by religion and it bears no fruit,
it just sits there. And our Lord said after the sower
goes on, after the preacher goes off the air, quits his sermon,
that that seed is laying there. You've heard it. But then Satan
comes, the fowl of the air. And he replaces that seed with
some other interest. He just bears it away. You get
taken up, you've got to fix dinner in a little while, or you've
got to go to grandma's house in a little while, or you're
going fishing this afternoon, or you're going boating, or you're
going to do something. And that seed, that Word of God that I
faithfully preached to you, it's gone. And the place thereof know
it no more. knoweth it no more. You know,
Herod heard John the Baptist. He heard a great preacher. In
fact, our Lord said of John the Baptist that he's the greatest
man born of woman. And Herod heard him. And scripture
says he heard him gladly. But his heart was hard. Hard
with self-will. He was going to do what he was
going to do. His heart was hardened through
self-will and through lust. And the seed did not bear any
fruit. and John the Baptist was gone
and Herod was still steeped in his rebellion and his sin. Agrippa
heard Paul, but his heart was hardened by ambition and pride
in human glory. Felix heard Paul and even trembled,
but the word bore no fruit. The Lord God has sent his word.
He has not left himself without a witness. He has sent his word
by preachers and pastors and prophets and evangelists and
teachers He has sent his word from the pulpit in books and
Bibles in over a thousand languages Our Lord has sent his word by
missionaries in every nation and yet man's heart is hard His
heart is hard and unconcerned and indifferent and the deceitfulness
of sin has hardened his heart, and the deceitfulness of religion,
and he will not hear." Now that's the first type of Saul. All right,
our Lord said, as he continued, he said, some of the seed fell
on stony ground. You remember me mentioning that
a moment ago? There was the, where the soil
was right on top of the rock, just a thin layer of soil, a
half an inch of soil or an inch of soil on top of the rock. Stony
ground. and the seed fell on that stony
ground and it did, it did begin to grow it germinated and sprang
up and the little tender plant came up but there was no root
there was no root, no tap root reaching down into the soil to
get the nourishment and life and water underneath and the
sun came out and just baked it and burnt it and it withered
and died now our Lord continued, he said the seed that fell on
the stony ground those are the people who hear the word of God
and they hear it gladly and they receive it immediately and they
show an interest in it and they receive the word and begin to
follow its teachings but they have no depth they have no tap
root, no root reaching down into the nourishment of Christ and
they soon wither and die and fade away. In other words, they
have no real conviction of sin. They have no true repentance
and godless sorrow. They have no conflict or struggle
in this matter of conviction and conversion they have no genuine
love for Christ and no saving faith in Christ they have no
awareness of what it means to be saved what it means to know
God what it means to be separated unto the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ to know the living God in Christ Jesus they don't know
what that means and they express a gladness He said they receive
the word immediately and gladly and show a lot of interest but
their interest is not in the person of Christ their interest
is in the benefits of Christ oh they're glad to have forgiveness
and they're glad to be healed and they're glad to prosper and
they're glad to be in good health and they're glad to have their
prayers answered and they're glad to make new friends and
they're glad to be going to heaven and they're glad to miss hell
And they wear little buttons that says it's fun being saved. They make quick progress in religion. They profess faith today and
they're teaching a Bible class tomorrow. But something happens. The hot sun of trial and difficulty. I don't know what direction the
trial may take or from what direction it'll come. Maybe it's the rain
from heaven or maybe it's the floods from earth or maybe it's
the wind. that you can't even tell really
where it comes from, but trial comes. The hot sun of trial and
difficulty and persecution because of the Word of God. It hits them.
And because they have no root, they quickly wither and die and
fade away. That's what our Lord said. He
said the seed, the seed falls on the stony ground. The thin
layer of earth. And it springs up quickly. But
it has no root. It has no source of strength. It has no source of grace. It
has no source of nourishment. And therefore when the sun comes
out and bakes it, it just withers and dies. And He said these are
people who hear the gospel. It sounds good to them. And the
preacher promises them forgiveness, and health, and prosperity, and
life, and heaven, and all of these things, and they just accept
it, and with gladness they rejoice in it, and they go out and start
witnessing, and teaching, and preaching, and then they run
headlong into a severe trial, sickness, or sorrow, or death,
or persecution for the sake of the Word, or any type of trial,
and they quit. They just quit. Because they
wither and die. They had no root. They had no
taproot reaching into the water of life into Christ. They had
no root reaching down into the person of Christ, drawing from
him the strength and grace and help that they need in this time
of trouble. Our Lord told Paul, my grace
is sufficient. But John said, they went out
from us because they never were of us. They never had that root.
You see, the strength of the believer is not in himself. Neither
is it in a plant itself. It's in the nourishment that
that plant gets from the ground in which it's planted. So we're
planted in Christ. And our tap root, that's what
Job said, the root of the matter is in thee, it reaches into Christ.
And draws from Him all that we need. He is our strength. He
is our sanctification. He is our wisdom. He is our life. Now what's this? Some fell among
thorns and briars. Now listen to me. Our Lord said
the sower sowed and over there in the field were briars and
vines and thorns that the plow had not dug up and plowed up. And this seed fell. Well, it
grew just like the thorns and briars grew. But the little tender
plant was soon choked out by the big briars and thorns that
were there. And our Lord said, these are
people, these are people who hear the Word. They hear the
truth of the Word. They hear the Gospel. They make a profession
of faith. and they endure for a while but
then three things the cares of the world the deceitfulness of
riches and the lust of other things choke the word and they
drift away the cares of this world our Lord one day said this
he said to the believers take no thought what you shall eat
what you shall drink what you shall wear Those are the cares
of this world. Well, what are we going to eat?
How am I going to keep my job? How am I going to support my
family? How am I going to make a living? How am I going to pay
my taxes? How am I going to pay my house rent? How am I going
to raise my children? How are they going to be educated,
you know? I've just got to give myself to the cares of this world.
He said, your Heavenly Father knows you have need of these
things. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. Set your heart on the
Kingdom of God and these things will be added to you. These are
the things that the heathen seek after. But you seek first the
kingdom of God. And God will supply all of your
needs. He said, look at the lily of the field. They toil not,
neither do they spin. And yet Solomon in all his glory
was not arrayed like one of these. And he said, consider the sparrows
of the air, they're not worth much, and yet not a one of them
falls to the ground without your heavenly Father. He said, if
God clothes the flower of the field and feeds the birds of
the air, shall he not much more clothe and feed you, O ye of
little faith? And then the deceitfulness of
riches. Oh, how the hearts of men are wooed by possessions
and by riches and by the things of this world, the love of money.
is the root of all evil that's what the apostles said Spurgeon
the great preacher of London England said this for every one
man that I've seen fall through poverty I've seen 50 fall because
of riches how riches steal our hearts away from Christ you know
what the prophet of old said this Lord keep me from riches
lest I forget thee now keep me from poverty lest I steal But
keep me from riches, lest I forget God. And this is what our Lord's
talking about. A man hears the gospel. Maybe he's just an ordinary
fellow, you know, just getting by, and he hears the gospel.
And he likes what he hears, and he starts going to church, and
he starts hearing the preacher, and then he gets a promotion.
and then he gets on a committee, and then he gets in the country
club, and then he gets running around with a crowd that makes
money, and invests money, and after a while his church is not
important to him anymore, the gospel is not important to him
anymore, God's not important to him anymore, the deceitfulness,
riches deceive, they deceive, they steal your heart from Christ.
And then the lust of other things, let me tell you this, nothing
is worthwhile that takes you away from Christ. I don't care
what it is, that'll apply to anything. Anything. Nothing is
a blessing unless it draws you closer to Christ. Unless it makes
him more important. Unless it sets your affections
and hearts on Christ. If anything in your life takes
your heart away from the Redeemer, it's not worthwhile. Now the
last ground. He said some fell on good ground.
Good ground. Now the ground wasn't good by
nature, it's just like all other ground. What made it good? It
had been plowed. It had been broken up. It had
been prepared by the farmer. It had been just disked and plowed
and broken and torn apart until it was ready for the seed. And
our Lord said, these are the people who receive the Word.
They hear the Word and understand it. And it brings forth fruit. The Holy Spirit prepares the
heart to receive God's Word. He breaks it with Holy Spirit
conviction. He breaks up our old hard, callous,
indifferent, unconcerned heart. And we become concerned. Why
is it one day in your life you didn't give a flip of God's Word
and then suddenly a little later you became interested in the
Gospel? The Holy Spirit convicted you. Showed you your need of
Christ. Revealed to you the Savior, the
beauty of Christ. Gave you repentance and faith
and brought you to Christ. And He said that good ground
that received the Word of God bore fruit, some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some forty, but every believer bears fruit and I believe
we're talking about the fruit of the Spirit love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, humility, and temperance
the good ground bore good fruit to different degrees but it all
bore fruit because the Word of God lives and brings life now
this message is on tape Cassette tape the two messages on each
tape I'll bring one next Sunday on the preachers last sermon
And you can get this tape by writing and ordering it and the
cost is two dollars if you'll send two dollars We'll mail you
the tape the address will be given to you in just a moment
till next week at the same time May God bless you everyone
Henry Mahan
About Henry Mahan

Henry T. Mahan was born in Birmingham, Alabama in August 1926. He joined the United States Navy in 1944 and served as a signalman on an L.S.T. in the Pacific during World War II. In 1946, he married his wife Doris, and the Lord blessed them with four children.

At the age of 21, he entered the pastoral ministry and gained broad experience as a pastor, teacher, conference speaker, and evangelist. In 1950, through the preaching of evangelist Rolfe Barnard, God was pleased to establish Henry in sovereign free grace teaching. At that time, he was serving as an assistant pastor at Pollard Baptist Church (off of Blackburn ave.) in Ashland, Kentucky.

In 1955, Thirteenth Street Baptist Church was formed in Ashland, Kentucky, and Henry was called to be its pastor. He faithfully served that congregation for more than 50 years, continuing in the same message throughout his ministry. His preaching was centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, in full accord with the Scriptures. He consistently proclaimed God’s sovereign purpose in salvation and the glory of Christ in redeeming sinners through His blood and righteousness.

Henry T. Mahan also traveled widely, preaching in conferences and churches across the United States and beyond. His ministry was marked by a clear and unwavering emphasis on Christ, not the preacher, but the One preached. Those who heard him recognized that his sermons honored the Savior and exalted the name of the Lord Jesus Christ above all.

Henry T. Mahan served as pastor and teacher of Thirteenth Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky for over half a century. His life and ministry were devoted to proclaiming the sovereign grace of God and directing sinners to the finished work of Christ. He entered into the presence of the Lord in 2019, leaving behind a lasting testimony to the gospel he faithfully preached.

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