The Sown Word

And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:4–15).[1]

In the tenth chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul describes the necessity of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ, as “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” One cannot believe the gospel if one does not hear it, in various ways and various forms, and one cannot hear it unless it is shared or proclaimed. Hearing then is necessary for salvation, but hearing is not enough. The gospel must be truly believed, yet not all who hear believe.

Have you ever wondered why? If the gospel is the good news that sinners are reconciled to our holy God through faith in Jesus Christ, then why doesn’t everyone believe? Are believers simply smarter, more insightful, perhaps more determined than unbelievers? Of course not, but the question remains: Why do some believe, and others do not?

The answer may be found in the purpose of parables. As Jesus explained to his disciples, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand’” (8:10). If it sounds to you like Jesus is saying that he taught using parables to intentionally hide the truth, then you heard him right. In fact, he quotes from the prophet Isaiah, “seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.” Counterintuitive to our way of thinking, God commissioned Isaiah not to win over but to make the people’s hearts “dull,” their “ears heavy,” their eyes “blind,” so they would not see, hear, or understand (Isa. 6:9-10). The purpose of Isaiah’s preaching was the judgment of God and so was Jesus’ Parable of the Sower.

While not a popular thought, God’s judgment rests upon every soul that has not believed the gospel. And while believing comes through hearing the gospel, believing is only saving faith by the grace of God. If you are in Christ today, it’s not because you cultivated the soil of your heart but only because of God’s mercy and grace. And yet, while our salvation is according to God, we who have been saved are commissioned through his church to share the gospel, to sow the seed of his Word. Why, when, and where we sow, Jesus speaks to in his parable.

The Absence of Perseverance

Jesus’ parable begins with a sower sowing his seed, seed that Jesus reveals is “the word of God” (8:11). The seed is indiscriminately scattered, first along the foot path. It’s no place to sow seed, unless we simply wish to feed the birds, and yet the seed is sown falling where it may. Jesus says, in such soil “the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved” (8:12). Though the gospel has the power of life in it, the devil distorts the message and deceives the heart, snatching the seed away before it takes root.

If this is the case, then why was the seed sown there in the first place? The pragmatist considers such sowing a waste of time and resources, wishing to sow the seed where there is greater certainty of fruition. I am reminded of a conversation I had with a friend shortly after I had returned from a short-term mission trip to West Africa. He wondered why I would take the time and spend the money to take a trip to such a “dark and demonic place,” as he called it. I suppose I could have lectured him on what missions is, or I could have doubled down and told him I had plans to go somewhere darker and more demonic (like Hollywood!), but I didn’t. I do, however, recall how thinking that if everyone in the church thought with such pragmatism, the Great Commission would never be fulfilled. But to his way of thinking, there were more fertile fields elsewhere, where the devil’s work is perhaps less dominate. Such pragmatism must never prevail in our obedience to Christ’s command.

The proclamation of gospel is made both near and far, to all indiscriminately. The gospel is offered freely, whether from this pulpit in Fort Smith, Arkansas, or to a just-reached people group on the other side of the world. While God has sovereignly predestined his elect unto salvation, who and where they are remain among the secret things of God. And so, we sow the seed of God’s Word to our neighbor and to the nations that it may be heard and believed, never presuming that someone is too far gone to hear and believe the Good News!

The second type of soil is rocky, where the seed takes root but quickly withers away. Jesus explains, in this case, they not only hear the Word of God but “receive it with joy.” This is not the same thing as saving faith, but enthusiastic agreement: The gospel sounds good. And so they believe for a while and then they “fall away” (8:13), as many of us have witnessed firsthand. “It is quite possible,” J.C. Ryle explains, “to feel great pleasure, or deep alarm, under the preaching of the Gospel, and yet be utterly destitute of the grace of God.”[2] The apostle John encountered such people in the early New Testament church, who were thought to be believers, and no one knew better until they departed.[3] In our day, this is often described as “leaving the faith,” or someone may say they are “no longer a Christian.” Meaning, they never were. One does not go from being supernaturally converted to unconverted with a change of mind. A false profession of faith is just that; it’s neither real nor lasting. But time tells the truth: True Christians persevere.

The Distraction of Affluence

The third type of soil is presumably good, but its environment is not, where thorns choke out any sprouted seed. These are, Jesus says, the thorns of worldly cares, riches, and pleasures. Conversion seems authentic, growth seems evident, and then the world beckons with all its enticements, and the kingdom of God seems comparatively lacking. J.C. Ryle warns,

Open sin is not the only thing that ruins souls. In the midst of our families, and in pursuit of lawful callings, we have need to be on our guard. Except we watch and pray, these temporal things may rob us of heaven, and smother every sermon we hear. We may live and die thorny-ground hearers.[4]

How many of us have watched this with our own eyes in the lives of those who were once faithful, but the weight of worldly cares withers supposed faith, or the enticement of riches and the allure of pleasure seemingly outweigh whatever the gospel had to offer.

Watching those who had once professed faith depart, the apostle John warns the church, “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16). The worldly system in opposition to the things of God knows precisely what appeals to our sinful flesh. And when the sinful flesh leads away from God, when sinful lust craves everything but God, when sinful pride wants to be God, you can be sure there is no place for the sprouted seed of the Word to grow. The world’s cares and concerns are powerfully engaging, its riches are effectively enticing, its pleasures are intensely alluring, so much so that even someone who professes faith in Christ will be drawn away to the way of the world.

The Evidence of Fruition

It is only in the fourth type of soil that the seed roots, grows, and yields “a hundredfold” (8:8), revealing the necessity of good soil for the implanted Word. To be clear, the Word of God is “breathed out by God” (2 Tim. 3:16). It is “living and active” (Heb. 4:12). But the Word of God does not sprout, grow, and bear fruit by itself. It only grows where the Holy Spirit works. Unless you are “born again,” Jesus explained to Nicodemus, you “cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:4). And the new birth comes only by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, who “convinces us of our sin and misery, enlightens our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renews our wills and so persuades and allows us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.”[5]

The Holy Spirit makes a deceived heart “honest” and makes a bad heart “good,” resulting in the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23a). This fruit the believer yields, not perfectly or completely, but consistently, not for a season but always and forever. A so-called “carnal Christian” is no Christian at all; a fruitless Christian is nothing more than an unbeliever.

Let this be then a point of self-examination? Is your life characterized by the fruit of the Spirit or a hardened heart? Does your faith endure through trials, or do you look for help everywhere and anywhere but God and his Word? Have the cares and concerns of this world become yours, weighing you down to a hopeless Christless existence? Or have you sold your soul to the pursuit of success, serving the task master of mammon rather than crucified with Christ? Or is your pursuit yourself, where your thoughts and dreams are fixed on pleasing yourself? Then, the seed of the Word has not found good ground, but it can today:

Do you acknowledge yourself to be a sinner in the sight of God, justly deserving his displeasure, and without hope save in his sovereign mercy?

Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon him alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel?

Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes a follower of Christ?

May you acknowledge, believe, and resolve this today and so know the gracious salvation of God as his child.       

The result is bountiful fruit, not the immature fruit of the thorny ground but consistent and enduring fruit. The true believer bears this fruit and does so “with patience” (8:15), as the ESV translates it, or as the word may also be translated, “with perseverance.” And the true believer perseveres, because “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:6). We who have been born again by the Spirit, justified as righteous by faith in Jesus Christ, adopted into the family of God, and are being sanctified by the Spirit’s indwelling presence have, according to God’s Word, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, growing and persevering in grace to the end of our lives.[6]

            The beaten path and high-way side

                        Receive the trust in vain;

            The watchful birds the spoil divide,

                        And pick up all the grain.    

            The seed that finds a stony soil,

                        Shoots forth a hasty blade;

            But ill repays the sower’s toil,

                        Soon withered, scorched and dead.

            The thorny ground is sure to balk

                        All hopes of harvest there;

            We find a tall and sickly stalk,

                        But not the fruitful ear.

But where the Lord of grace and power

                        Has blessed the happy field;

            How plenteous is the golden store

                        The deep-wrought furrows yield![7]

[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).

[2] J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 252.

[3] 1 John 2:19

[4] J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 252-253

[5] Green, Nezamutdinov, Preston, The Illustrated Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 31 (Fearn: Christian Focus Publications, 2022), 39.

[6] “The Shorter Catechism” Q. 36, The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (Lawrenceville: PCA Christian Education and Publications, 2007), 396.

[7] William Cowper, “Ye Sons of the Earth Prepare the Plough,” https://hymnary.org/text/ye_sons_of_earth_

prepare_the_plough.