Parables of Jesus

Introduction

Good morning. It is so good to see you this morning. It is indeed good to be together to be able to worship God in spirit and in truth. It is very good to have guests here with us this morning. We have many guests from around the country that are here with us. I have a couple of preacher friends of mine who are here along with their families, their wives and their families. I’m glad they’re here. And also one of my shepherds from the church I worked with in Middle Tennessee is here today, Charlie Norman. So glad to see him here. And just so good for all of us to be together today to be able to worship our Father and give praise to Jesus. Before I dive into the lesson this morning, I want to remind the members of the South Bumby Church family of something very quickly.

Today, remember, at 2 30, we are beginning a new series of lessons or studies in the big classroom in the in the other building. And these studies are going to be different than the ones we had last year because they are going to be dealing directly with the teachings of Jesus.

Many of you know that one of the main ways in which Jesus taught people was through parables.

As relevant and challenging and convicting today as they were 2,000 years ago when Jesus first told them. Now these classes are going to be offered every fourth Sunday of the month at 2 30, and they’re going to provide us with some amazing opportunities. They’re going to provide us with the opportunity to grow in our knowledge and relationship with Jesus and to grow in our fellowship and relationship with each other, and they’re going to give us the opportunity to be able to do as our theme this year suggests, and that is serve God with our family. I am looking forward to these classes about the parables of Jesus throughout the course of this year. In fact, in preparation for these studies, I want to ask you to get your Bible out this morning and go into your New Testament to the gospel of Luke.

Please go on your Bible to Luke chapter 8. Please go on your Bible to Luke chapter 8. I got several verses I want to read to you this morning from Luke chapter 8. But before I do that, I want to begin by asking you have you ever found yourself listening to a sermon, and after it was all over, you felt that it just wasn’t relevant to where you currently were in your life. For example, maybe it was a sermon about being a good parent. Maybe it was a sermon about being a godly father or a godly mother, but you were someone in the crowd who didn’t have kids and you had no plans of ever having kids. Or maybe it was a sermon about dating. Maybe it was a sermon about being single and the challenges that come with being single in the church, for you were someone in the crowd who had been married 30, 40, or 50 years.

Or maybe it was a sermon about serving God as a young person. Maybe it was a sermon about the challenges that are attached with serving God as a teenager in the 21st century, and you were somewhere in the crowd who hadn’t been in that age bracket for a very long time. There are so many other examples we could give this morning, but the point remains the same. The point is it is not uncommon to listen to a sermon and find it difficult to see the relevance that it has in your life. But I want to suggest to you this morning that there is one sermon in the Bible, that it doesn’t matter how old or young you may be, it doesn’t matter if you were married or single, it is relevant to you.

It applies to you, it applies to where you currently are in your spiritual life, and this sermon was preached by Jesus. It was actually preached by Jesus 2,000 years ago. And it is found in three of the four gospels Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And when the Lord first presented it, he presented it as a parable. He presented it as a story.

Sometimes called the parable of the soils. You see, like the parables of the good Samaritan and the lost sheep and the lost coin and the lost boy or the prodigal son, this parable also contains some of the most powerful teaching that Jesus ever gave in his life. And I want us to read what Luke has to say about it right here in Luke chapter 8. Now, again, this parable is also found in two of the other gospels. It’s in Matthew chapter 13, and as also in Mark chapter 4, but we’re going to read what Luke has to say about it this morning. And I want you to use your imagination.

And you see Jesus. Do you see him in your mind? You see Jesus preaching the word of God. You’re at his feet. You’re near the Sea of Galilee. And maybe as Jesus preaches this, preaches this parable, he is pointing at real things and real people.

And those from the various cities were journeying to him. He spoke by way of a parable. Verse number five the sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air ate it up. Other seed fell on the rocky soil. And as soon as it grew up, it withered away because it had no moisture. Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. Other seed fell into the good soil, and it grew up and produced a crop a hundred times as great as he said these things, he would call out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now, as you allow those verses to soak in your heart for just a moment, I want you to notice the various figures that Jesus uses to teach in this parable.

Do you see them? Do you see the various figures that Jesus is using to teach on this occasion? There are at least three of them, and the first one is the seed, and the second one is the sower, and then the third one is soils. Soils. He talks about the wayside soil, which is the beaten ground where the seed is not going to grow. And then he talks about the rocky soil, which is a ground where it is difficult for the seed to grow. And then he talks about the thorny soil, which is the ground where the crop is choked and it becomes unfruitful, and then you got the good soil, which is the ground that produces the crop that the sower intends. He talks about seed.

A sower and various soils that the sower plants his seed in.

How’s a parable about a sower and seed and soils something that has a universal application? What relevance does this have to my life living in 21st century America today? Well, the great thing about this parable, brothers and sisters, is unlike many of Jesus’ other parables, this one’s really not that hard to understand. Unlike the parable about the unrighteous, unrighteous steward, or the parable of the landowner, or the parable of the marriage feast. We don’t need to open up a commentary this morning and read what some scholar or preacher has to say about it. We don’t have to consult Google or Chat GPT. We don’t have to listen to some podcast or some lecture on it. No, all we got to do is read the Bible. All we gotta do is keep reading the next seven verses in this chapter because Jesus, the perfect preacher, he tells us what this is all about.

And so let’s keep reading. Because we go to verse number nine of Luke chapter 8. And the scripture says, His disciples began questioning him as to what this parable meant. Jesus, what is this all about? We don’t get it. And he said to them in verse 10, To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. We’ll talk about that more at 2:30, what that’s all about. Jesus uses parables to weed out the crowd. That’s what he’s doing here. And in verse 11, it says, Now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. Those beside the road are those who have heard, the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear receive the word with joy. And these have no firm root. They believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. The seed which fell among the thorns are the ones who have heard. And as they go on their way, they’re choked with worries and riches and pleasure of his life, and they bring no fruit to maturity. Verse 15 But the seed in the good soil. These are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance. Notice how when it comes to trying to figure out what all this means, what this parable is all about, we don’t have to spend a lot of time guessing and wondering, pondering about it because Jesus tells us.

Jesus tells us exactly what all these different figures in the parable represent. He tells us in verse number 11 that the seed, the seed is the word of God. The seed is the Bible. It is the inspired scriptures that we have before us this morning, and the sower will the sower according to Mark’s parallel account. And Mark chapter 4 and verse 14, the sower is me. The sower is you. The sower is any disciple or Christian who has the courage and the love to go out into the world and share the seed with those who need to hear it. And the soils, well, the soils represent hearts.

After they hear the word of God.

1. The Wayside Soil: Hears but Never Gives It a Chance

Good soil having good hearts. In other words, when it comes to sowing the seed, which is the word of God, the seed is going to be planted in different kinds of hearts. People are going to respond to and react to the seed in different kinds of ways. The question is, is what about us? What about me this morning? And what about you this morning? Which soil in the parable represents our hearts. Is it the wayside soil? Is it the beaten soil? Is it the soil that when the seed lands on it, it doesn’t have any chance of growing and being fruitful and productive? Is that us? I mean, that is what Jesus says about this soil in the text, right? Going back to verse number 12 in the text.

Notice how Jesus says that the wayside soil represents the person who hears the word of God. They hear preaching and teaching from the scriptures, but he never really gives it a chance.

Now he may hear dozens and dozens of sermons preached from the pulpit.

He may even have somebody sit across from him at the kitchen table and teach him the big picture of the Bible, but none of that’s gonna do him any good. None of that truly benefits him. None of that teaching and preaching and explaining motivates him to get up and act on the word of God while the devil is certainly at work in his life, and Jesus says that in the parable. This person still chooses to reject the truth.

This person still chooses to have a hardened heart. This person chooses to reject what God says in his word. That’s what Jesus says about the person who has a heart that is like seed planted in wayside soil. And the question is, why? Why are there people like this? Why are there people who have hearts like this? Could it be because they’re just too much in love with the traditions of their family? Could it be that they’re just too much in love with the tradition of their parents or their grandparents? Maybe they don’t want to admit that they were wrong in the way they were raised. Maybe they don’t want to admit that they were raised believing the wrong kinds of things. Maybe they just love sin too much.

Maybe they are living in a way that is clearly sinful.

But they don’t want to change.

Or maybe they’re just plain stubborn. Maybe they’re just prideful and hard hearted. And they’re just like Pharaoh in the days of Moses, who, no matter what evidence was shown to him, he wasn’t going to change. He wasn’t going to live for the Lord. There are a whole host of reasons as to why there are some people who never go beyond just hearing the word of God, but the fact remains the same. The fact still remains that these people choose to reject the truth. The problem is not with the sower or with the seed. It’s with the person’s heart. They choose not to believe. They choose not to have faith. They choose not to do what is necessary to go beyond just hearing a sermon. That’s what Jesus says about the person with the wayside soil who has a heart like this.

2. The Rocky Soil: Converted, but in Time Falls Away

But what about the next person? What about the rocky soil? That’s mentioned in verse number 13. What type of heart does that represent? Well, the rocky soil represents the person who is initially converted by the gospel. They initially believe, but in time, this person falls away.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who like to say that this point we have on our slide is wrong because this person was never truly converted. They say this person never truly believed the word of God and allowed the word of God to penetrate into their hearts. This is something that those who advocate once saved always save doctrine believe, right? Those who advocate once saved, always doctrine, say, Well, well, no, this person never was truly converted. That’s why they fell away. They never truly believed God’s word. That’s what they say, but is that what Jesus says? Is that what the text says? Go back to the text again, please. Luke chapter 8 and verse number 13. Luke 8 and verse 13. Jesus says, those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear receive the word of God with joy, and these have no firm root.

They believe. They believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. That’s what Jesus says. Notice how contrary to what those who advocate once saved, always saved doctrine suggests, Jesus does not say here that these people heard the word of God and then they were not truly converted. That’s not what he says. He does not say they faked it. Or they pretended to believe the word of God. He does not say that they really did not believe, and they did not allow the word of God to initially penetrate their hearts. Instead, he says the opposite.

You know what that means? They believe it. They’re initially converted by it. They begin walking with Jesus, but because they don’t have a firm root in time, they fall away. They leave the Lord. That’s what the text actually says. And that lines up perfectly with so many other verses we find in our Bibles, does it not? That lines up perfectly with Galatians 5 and verse 4. Where the apostle Paul says to Christians that it is possible to be cut off or severed from Christ and fall away. And that lines up perfectly with what the Hebrew writer says. In Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 12, when he says to Christians that it is possible to develop an unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God, and is also perfectly consistent with what Paul says about himself.

If you go in your Bible with me, the 1 Corinthians chapter 9, look in your Bible, please at 1 Corinthians chapter 9, because here the apostle Paul says something very powerful to the people of God. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9 in the verse 24, verse 24 of the text, he says, Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize.

We are trying to win the spiritual race. That’s what Paul says. Verse 25, everyone who competes in the games, exercises self-control in all things, they then do it to receive a perishable wreath. But we as Christians, we’re trying to get an imperishable one. Verse 26, he says, Therefore I run in such a way it’s not without aim. I box in such a way it’s not beating the air, but I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I preach to others, I myself will not be disqualified. Notice how Paul says that even though he was an apostle, there’s no apostles here today. This man’s an apostle. Even though he’s an apostle, he’s a preacher. He is someone who saw the risen Savior. He could perform miraculous gifts and impart those gifts.

He was directly inspired by the Holy Spirit. Even though Paul did so much wonderful work for the Lord and was a handpicked special ambassador of Jesus Christ, he says that if he didn’t discipline his body and live for the Lord, he could fall away. He could fail to finish the race. He could be spiritually disqualified. There, Paul is telling us that it is possible for believers, for Christians, for followers of Jesus to fall away from him. It is possible to leave him. It is possible for us to go from being right with him to being wrong with him. That’s what the apostle Paul says there. In fact, maybe you can think of some people that you know who’ve done that. Maybe right now you can think of some people who may have one time been members of this congregation, and they’re not right with the Lord.

They have fallen away. They fall exactly into what Jesus is talking about in this part of the parable. They initially obeyed the gospel. Maybe you saw them do that. They initially believed the gospel. They repented of their sins. You heard them confess Jesus as Lord, and you saw them get baptized, but after a few days went by, or a few weeks, or a few months, or a few years, what happened? They left. They left the Lord. They did exactly, well, they didn’t do exactly as Jesus spoke in Luke 14 and verse number 28, and they didn’t count the cost. They were unwilling to continue to live for Him. They were unwilling to completely cut ties with false religious practices and churches because they didn’t want to be persecuted by their family.

They didn’t want to be persecuted by their unbelieving spouse or by their parents. Maybe they didn’t want to say no to getting themselves involved in an unscriptural marriage. Or to put their jobs or their pursuit of higher education before the Lord. Maybe they use their anger and their frustrations with other Christians as an excuse to leave Jesus. Maybe because they fear that some Christians are too mean and they’re too rude and they’re too hypocritical. And so that’s an excuse for me to stop serving the Lord. I’m not going to church anymore. I’m not going to be part of the church of Christ anymore. These people foolishly take their frustrations with brethren out on the Lord who died on the cross for their sins. Maybe you can think of some people like that.

3. The Thorny Soil: No Fruit to Maturity

In fact, maybe that’s you right now. Maybe right now you’re on the verge. You’re hanging on by a thread. You’re on the verge of leaving the Lord. If that’s you right now in your heart, please know Jesus talking to you. Jesus preaching to you. Jesus says the rocky soil is the person who is converted, but in but in time they fall away. But let’s now talk about this next one the thorny soil. The thorny soil. We need to talk about this one for a few minutes because this may be the part of the parable that just throws people off the most. So often people go to this part of the parable and they misinterpret it. They say things that the parable does not say. They say that, like soil number two, the people mentioned in this part of the parable, they also fall away.

They also leave Jesus and his people. A lot of people suggest that, but the problem is they’re wrong. The problem is the text does not say that. Jesus does not say that. And don’t get me wrong, don’t misunderstand. This category of people does not please the Lord. They don’t bring glory to God, they don’t bring glory to Jesus, but Jesus never says in this text or in Matthew’s account or Mark’s account that these people fall away. He never says that.

He never says they depart from the truth. Instead, what does he say? He says they bring forth no fruit. He says they bring no fruit to maturity. Some translations render that they are unfruitful. In other words, they allow the things of this world to choke them out spiritually, and they never grow. They never mature, they never develop spiritually. As disciples of Jesus Christ, they do not fall away. They do not go away. In fact, these may be the people who come into church every single Sunday. These are the people who may be coming every Wednesday night Bible class. They’re hearing a bunch of sermons, they’re praying a bunch of prayers, they’re singing a bunch of songs, but they’re still fruitless. They still don’t grow. They’re still babes in Christ.

That’s what Jesus says in the text. And unfortunately, if we’re being honest, this may describe more Christians than we’re willing to admit. Unfortunately, more Christians, more people who’ve been baptized for the remission of their sins may fall into this category than any other in the parable. And the reason for that is this. The reason for that is because if we’re not careful as Christians living in this world today, we can find ourselves becoming too busy. We can find ourselves becoming distracted and having misplaced priorities. We can find ourselves working 50, 60, 70 hours a week, and we hardly ever read our Bibles.

We never spend time with our family. We never spend time with other Christians outside of this church building. We never examine ourselves spiritually and where we need to grow and improve as Christians. We never get involved in evangelism. That’s the job of the preachers. It’s not my job. We’re not going to do evangelism. We’re not going to stretch ourselves and try to discover new ways to serve in the kingdom of God. We refuse to do anything more than the bare minimum.

We’re not going to get up a little bit early on Sunday to come to Bible class and be on time. Give me a break. We’re not going to look for ways to encourage other Christians throughout the week. I’ll see those people on Sunday. We’re not going to be part of a group meeting. We’re not going to be part of special studies that are offered. We’re not going to do anything more than just fill our little spot in the pew. That’s us. We’re too distracted. And we’re too selfish. And we’re too full of pride to change. And as a result, we fall right into this category of people that Jesus is talking about here. We don’t grow. We don’t mature. We don’t bear fruit with perseverance for the Lord.

4. The Good Soil: Bearing Fruit for the Glory of God

That’s what the Lord says about this group of people. But let’s now talk about the last one very quickly. And that’s the good soil. What does Jesus say about the good soil in verse number 15? Well, unlike all the other people he’s talked about so far, hear the Lord. The Lord doesn’t condemn these people. The Lord doesn’t rebuke these people. Instead, these people are commended by the Lord. They’re shown approval by the Lord. The Lord compliments these people because not only do they hear the word of God, but they also hold fast to it while bearing fruit for the glory of God. They do exactly what Jesus says in John 15 and verse 8. Jesus says, His father is glorified when his people bear much fruit.

These people don’t just hear the word of God and come to church. They’re bearing fruit. They bear fruit. They grow spiritually. They live in such a way that pleases and honors God. They read the Bible every single day. They’re not content with where they currently are spiritually. They’re not content with what they currently know about the Bible. They’re always trying to learn. They’re reading the Bible, studying the Bible, meditating on the Bible, praying without ceasing, trying to win the lost. Actively looking for opportunities to share their faith with other people. They follow the golden rule of Matthew 7 and verse 12. They treat other people like they want to be treated. They live holy lives.

They make and take advantage of opportunities to be with other Christians outside of this building. And when they mess up, because we all mess up from time to time, right? These people are humble enough to repent and reform and ask forgiveness from God and maybe those they’ve sinned against.

Conclusion

No, this is for you. This is for me. We all can find ourselves somewhere in this parable. The question is, which one of these soils represents us? Which one? Which one represents me? Which one represents you? We know the truth about that. You know who else knows the truth? God does. God knows which category we fall into. And I want you to notice that out of all the soils that are mentioned in this parable, only one is saved in the end. And that’s the good one. Only the good soil is saved in the end. And that means that if you are, if you have a heart like the wayside soil, you need to choose to change today. You need to choose to go beyond just hearing a bunch of sermons and Bible classes and truly receive the gospel into your heart and obey it.

And if you have a heart like the rocky places, you need to come back to God. You need to repent. You need to be restored. You need to return to the Lord and will pray for you. And if you have a heart like those among the thorns, it’s time to stop playing games and start getting committed. Put first things first. Be committed to Jesus. Strive to grow. Strive to be better. Remove anything from your life right now that is keeping you from seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Let’s all make sure we’re doing our best to be that good soil that bears fruit to the glory of God. And if you need help with that in any way at all, we’re going to sing this song of invitation.

And we’re going to invite you to come to the front right now as we stand and we sing together.