Parables of Christ - Part 4

Announcements

Please note the link to the Website in the Links part of this document, where the radio is available to stream. Still in its testing phase and contains songs in my mother tongue of Afrikaans too.

Audio Version of Today’s Note

The House of Bread · Voice Note For 20241005 - Sower And The Seed - Parables Of Christ - Part 4

Sower and the Seed

Luke 8:4-15 KJV

[4] And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: [5] A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. [6] And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. [7] And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. [8] And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. [9] And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? [10] And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. [11] Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. [12] Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. [13] They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. [14] And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. [15] But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

https://bible.com/bible/1/luk.8.4-15.KJV

Matthew 13:1-23 KJV

[1] The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. [2] And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. [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 way side, 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. [10] And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? [11] He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. [12] For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. [13] Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. [14] And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: [15] For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest at any time they should see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And should understand with their heart, And should be converted, and I should heal them. [16] But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. [17] For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. [18] Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. [19] When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. [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. [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. [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.

https://bible.com/bible/1/mat.13.1-23.KJV

Mark 4:1-20 KJV

[1] And he began again to teach by the sea side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land. [2] And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine, [3] Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: [4] and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. [5] And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: [6] but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. [7] And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. [8] And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. [9] And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. [10] And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. [11] And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: [12] that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them. [13] And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables? [14] The sower soweth the word. [15] And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. [16] And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; [17] and have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. [18] And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, [19] and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. [20] And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.

https://bible.com/bible/1/mrk.4.1-20.KJV

Note for 20241005

Here we have 3 accounts from the disciples of Christ on the parable of the Sower and the Seed. To the masses, Christ spoke in parables, as the prophets foretold, but to His disciples He revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of GOD.

How does this relate to you in your life? Our first reaction is to assume that we are the good soil Christ spoke of, not? But, is that indeed true? Is the Word that we received snatched away by contrary thoughts or confused by hearing false ministers? Maybe, by method of reasoning, we think that it is just like the myths and fairy tales that we have been told. Or, we are simply offended by what we hear; then we are quick to say that is not how we believe and search out a church that speaks what we want to hear.

Maybe, like with so many, we hear the Word in a moment of need, and as long as it makes us feel better about ourselves we carry on in rejoicing, but as soon as there is a little adversity, that flame for Christ goes out. Be that when our friends and family reject us for our choice, or whether we are now convicted of having to stop doing many of those things that gave us joy before. When we do not dig a little deeper, when we fail to look at our lives with the intention of changing for the better; then we go back to what we knew before, or try to live by a half baked idea. The zeal soon runs out then, when the trials and tribulations start.

Maybe, life is just too busy and there is too much that we still want to do from our own will and frame of mind. Maybe, we are still set on the old goals of building up some kingdom for ourselves and excel beyond what others can achieve. Oh, in pride, many have gone after things of this world thinking it will bring them some joy, only to find that they are never satisfied, always wanting more. So is all our time consumed by working towards our goal and resting from all our labour when we are not at work. Then, the Word of GOD gets in the way of achieving our own will.

For some, the Word of GOD comes at the right moment. And when we hear it, we are in for good. For some, it might be after we have failed a few times before, having misunderstood or simply being hard-headed. But, for those who have been called, they always come back to the Word of GOD. And when we are in for the long haul, we dig deep and root out all the evil we find within ourselves. Then we see those things that, that may have offended us before, as corrections. It is a relatively simple conclusion, "The Word of GOD is always senior to my own thinking." And I know, there will be some that say that sounds like a good approach for brainwashing and indoctrination. What is the doctrine of Christ, did we not just finish reading through the sermon on the mount? Are we not seeking a better way to live having discovered sin in us?

Tell me, what do you expect of Christ Jesus? Are we not supposed to be His servants? Why are we then caught so often being the ones with a list of demands? Of course, you have the freedom to believe as you please, but it does not mean that your belief aligns with Christ. Let's look at prosperity teachings, did Christ not say this world would hate us, because it hated Him first? And what about His statement, that you cannot serve two masters, you cannot serve GOD and Mammon?

Friends, Who determines the requirements of Salvation? Is it us? Which type of soil are we then really? These parables are given to us so we might understand who will receive the reward come harvest time. And in the text today, what does it say about those who do not understand? It's not my words friends, it is red letter text and Who carries the Authority of GOD for judgment? We will do well remembering Who is the Head of the church. Christ is the way, the truth and the life; we are to follow Him, not go off on our own. What is meekness and humility? Who is the Master of the House? Who is the bond servant? Do we follow Christ, or do we expect Him to help us on our way? Man can become too insistent once he has made up his mind. When I was a child, the grownups had a saying for a strong-willed child. They would say, "he has become too big for his shoes." Is it not the soft soul that receives the seed and permits the roots to shoot in deep? Is it not the soft clay that permits the potter to form it? What happens when you try to reform a hard baked pot? What good can be said of hard-headedness?

If we are insistent on doing things our own way forever, when will God's Way be taken? Sometimes it is those who have walked a certain way the longest who are hard to reform. Think of the Words Christ spoke to Nicodemus. What is it to be reborn? You see, the Pharisees and scribes were in a certain mindset, generations deep; and Christ called them hypocrites.

Though a little forced to fit; listen, then, closely. Remain the soft soil that can receive the seed of life daily. Remain pliable in the Hand of GOD. Permit the Lord to form you and shape you into that vessel that He has need of. Our lives are in the Master's Hand. Christ is our coming King and we must be transformed to enter into His Kingdom. Even as to be reborn. The old man, the man of sin, cannot enter into this Kingdom.

3 times this parable is recorded in the Word of GOD for us. Can we receive the message of it? Let him who has an ear to hear, hear what the Word of GOD is saying to the church of Christ. Receive the seed. Receive the Word of GOD.

Shalom