SERMON OUTLINE 

Parables       

The Parable of the Sowing – The Hard Heart

Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23; Mark 4.1-9, 14-20;

Luke 8.4-8, 11-15

Introduction

-A parable is a story, proverb, riddle, comparison, contrast, that when told symbolizes a truth and in the case of the parables of Jesus the truths of the coming kingdom of God. The parables of Jesus are about the coming King, the kingdom of God, and behavior in the kingdom of God.

-Parable of the Sowing. Mark 4.18 (literal translation)

-Seed = Word of God; Soil = People and their response to God’s Word; Sower = Those who scatter the Word of God

-First they seeded and then they plowed.

-Mark 4.13, A rebuke and a principle.

The Hard Heart

-They do not understand and the Devil takes away the Word of God so they will not believe and be saved.

-Sown in the heart. Heart = Mind, emotions and will.

-The Word of God is not allowed to penetrate the heart, not willing to listen, indifferent and antagonistic.

Why the Hard Heart?

1) Because of sin. Sin blinds. Pride. Sinful lifestyle.

2) Because of self-righteousness. Good enough for God.

    Loving God. Self-improvement to be like god.

3) Not convenient. To busy. Materialism. Fear.

4) Past experiences and false teaching. Christian examples. Past hurt. False teaching.

What Can Be Done?

1) Pray for them.

2) Live in love and integrity.

3) Not pushy but share what you believe.

4) Offer literature and give gifts of literature.

5) Invite to church and special meetings.

6) Offer to pray for them.

7) Know that is must be the work of God’s Grace. 2 Corinthians 4.3-6; 2 Timothy 2.24-26

Conclusion

We are responsible to live out the message and to share the message and to look to God to change the hard heart.

SERMON NOTES

Parables (2)     The Parable of the Sowing

Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23; Mark 4.1-9, 14-20; Luke 8.4-8, 11-15

-A parable is a story, proverb, riddle, comparison, contrast, that when told symbolizes a truth and in the case of the parables of Jesus the truths of the coming kingdom of God. The parables of Jesus are about the coming King, the kingdom of God, and behavior in the kingdom of God. The parables are very much a description of our present day church age.

-Jesus spoke in parables because of the growing opposition of the Jewish leaders and also because of the hardness of the hearts of those he was teaching. Jesus spoke in parables both to conceal the truth from the people and to challenge them to seek out the truth as they thought about the parables

-This morning we want to look at one of the most popular parables, the Parable of the Sower. Some have suggested that we call this the parable of the soils but in verse 18 Jesus himself calls this parable not the parable of the sower or the parable of the soils but the parable of the sowing. This parable is not so much about the sower or the soils but about the sowing process.

-This parable is explained in Matthew, Mark and Luke and I will be referring to all of these Gospels to explain the parable. Mark and Luke tell us that the seed sown by the sower is the Word of God (Mark 4.14; Luke 8.11).  The soil is people and their mind and heart response to the Word of God. The Sower in anyone who scatters the Word of God by preaching, teaching, and literature distribution. In the setting under study Jesus was the Sower and the people listening were the soils.

-As you read the description of the Sower sowing his seed, scattering seed on the path, and the rocky places, and among the thorns, and on the good soil you might think to yourself “we need to get a new sower because this guy is wasting a lot of our seed by just throwing it everywhere”. Here is something that might change your mind. Then and even today in the East the farmer first sows the seed and then plows the ground so that the seed is turned into the ground. In this way the hard ground and the thorny ground becomes part of the whole field when the soil is plowed over so that the seed can germinate and bring in a harvest. The way the sower was sowing his seed was common practice. The sower sowing his seed became a parable well suited to what Jesus wanted to teach the people about how people respond to the Word of God.

-In Mark 4.13 we hear Jesus saying to the disciples, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” This statement is both a rebuke to the disciples for their failure to understand this very basic parable, and also points to the principle that to understand any parable or any teaching of God the heart has to be responsive to God and willing to obey God’s truth. The teaching in the parable of the sower is basic to understanding all of God’s truth. The teaching is that the heart must be responsive to the Word of God for the Word of God to be understood and become fruitful.

-This week let’s have a look at the first heart that hears the Word of God and how that person responds to the Word of God.

1) The hard heart. The first part of this parable is about the seed that falls “along the path” and is eaten by the birds. Luke adds the detail that the seed was “trampled on” as well as eaten by the birds.

-Jesus explained this part of the parable as those people who hear the Word of God and do not understand it and because they do not understand it the Devil comes and snatches away the Word of God that was sown in their hearts. Luke adds the detail that “the Devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved”. Here we get the clear understanding that the Devil’s purpose is to keep people from the Word of God because the Word of God has power to save and power to transform lives if believed and put into practice. In this person the Word of God cannot fulfill its intended purpose because there is no response to the Word of God and no understanding of the Word of God.

-All three Gospels tell us that the Word of God is sown in the heart of these people but is quickly taken away by the Devil to prevent understanding and salvation. The heart is the mind that reasons, the emotions that react, and the will that chooses. This person rejects the Word of God out of hand without considering it. The Word of God is not faced with reason, it is not reacted to with emotion, and it is not chosen by the will. The Word of God is not allowed to penetrate the heart and so is easily taken away by the Devil.

-I have this card which says “to reject the gospel of Jesus Christ please dispose of this card”. That is what these people do when the Word of God comes to them. They just throw it aside. They are not willing to listen or to understand. They are indifferent to the Word of God and may even be antagonistic against it.

–Why do these people have a hard heart toward the Word of God? I can think of many reasons. i) Because of their sin. Sin blinds the sinner to his need of salvation. Sin separates a person from God and sin causes a person to rebel against God. Pride in the lives of these people leads them to believe they know more than the Word of God and to see the Word of God as foolish teaching on sin and salvation in Jesus Christ. // They do not want to change their sinful lifestyles and cannot afford to listen to the Word of God that might bring conviction of sin and a call to repentance. Being a sinner with a sinful lifestyle hardens to heart toward the Word of God. ii) Because of their self-righteousness. The biggest lie in the world is that people are good enough to be accepted by God and many reject the message of the Word of God because it says that people are not good enough to be accepted by God. These people believe that they are good enough to be accepted by God and that God is loving enough to accept them into heaven at death. They refuse to entertain any other possibility and find going to hell something to joke about. // They believe that self-improvement and not forgiveness and repentance in Christ is the key to becoming like God and reaching god potential. There is much of this god-is-inside-me and I-can-become-like-god thinking which seeks self-realization through various techniques for enlightenment. iii) It is not convenient. Many people are just too busy to be bothered with thinking about life, death and eternity. Many people’s lives are filled with mindless and aimless pursuits and the Word of God has no place to lay its head in their lives. They are just too busy to listen to all this religious stuff. // There is also the fear factor. Many people fear finding out that they are not on the right spiritual track or fear what others will say if they find out they are religious and so do not even want to hear about God. Revelation 21.8 tells me those who fear men and do not respond to the Word of God will not make it to heaven. They are classified with the worst of sinners. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” iv) Because of past experiences and false teaching. Some have been turned off to the Word of God by the hypocritical lifestyle of professing Christians either by their legalism or loose living. Some are put off from the Word of God by the fanaticism of Christians or the excesses and scandals of TV evangelists which is the only example they have of born-again Christianity. Some have been hurt and taken advantage of by professing Christians. Some have been properly dealt with but hold a grudge and resent Christians. Their rejection of Christians translates to rejecting the Word of God. // Others have received false teaching from their families and religions and so have no place for the Word of God because they already know the truth and consider the Word of God as corrupt or substandard to their own books and beliefs.

–Many things can cause a person to be indifferent or even hostile to the Word of God when it is presented to them. Their hearts are hard and there is no penetration of the Word of God allowed and they do not understand and the Devil comes and takes away the Word of God from them so they may not believe and be saved.

–What can we do about a person whose heart is so hard that the Word of God is rejected and not allowed to bring understanding to them? i) Pray for them. Pray that God will soften their heart and bring them to be open to the message of God’s Word. ii) Live a life of love and integrity before them. This is very important especially if part of their excuse is their past experience with Christians. They need to know the love of God and see a life of truth lived out. iii) Don’t be pushy with the Word of God but do continue to share what you believe and why you believe it. We are Christians and we have a message to share and should share that message without offending people by being pushy. Nevertheless even though the message may offend them we should continue to share it with them. iv) Offer them literature to read. Offer them literature to read on any topic you may be discussing if they are open to discussions. Challenge them to read the Bible for themselves so they can make up their own mind. Don’t be put off if they say no a number of times to literature. Keep offering books or tracts. Gifts of books are good on special occasions. Example: Sue and Doug wedding gift of a Bible and asked to be saved 10 years later. v) Invite them out to church or special church meetings. Again don’t be put off if they say no a number of times before they say yes. Keep asking. vi) Offer to pray for them. Pray for them during a crisis or when they have a need. You can even pray with them if they will let you. vii) Know that apart from the Grace of God not much will change with these people. They will not be saved unless the Word of God brings them understanding and they will not understand unless God opens their eyes to understand.

–2 Corinthians 4.3-6 is a key verse here, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age (which is the Devil) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

-Another verse which teaches this same principle that God must work with Grace in these hard hearts is 2 Timothy 2.24-26. “And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”

-Our responsibility is to live in a way that shows the Glory of God in Christ and to share the message of salvation and life in Christ. Some will not be interested and will openly scoff at the message and reject the message but as we call upon God for them and love them and continue to share in their lives, God may show His mercy to them and they will understand and believe and be saved. For now the world, the lies of false teaching, sin, and fear, past experiences and examples, is hardening their hearts and trampling the Word of God so that they will not believe and be saved. But God is able to soften their hearts so that they will be willing to understand and believe and be saved. Let us not give up on anyone until they die or we die. Let us look to God and do our part.

-I want to close this morning with a story from the life of George Muller which is an example to us of how we are to respond to the hard heart.