Preached at a Sunday Morning service
Le histoire du sumeur
‘Preparez vous le sol de mon Coeur, Seigneur, la bonne terre, ce sont les gens quie entendent la Parole et qui comprennent. Ils donnet des fruits: les uns 100, d’autres 60 et d’autres 30.’
The good soil is the understanding heart. Solomon told his son: with all your getting get understanding for understanding establishes. Understanding establishes God’s Word in your heart.
Many people read & study the Bible, many people memorize and quote the Bible, some even meditate in the Word, but not everyone gets understanding. The understanding heart produces 100 fold results. If you understand something you are established in it.
The seed of the sower in the Parable of the Sower is the Word of God. The enemy steals the Word, hard hearts do not allow the Word to grow and the cares of this life squash the Word like thorns squash a growing plant, but the understanding heart produces a good crop.
Meekness is a key to receiving the Word of God. We receive the engrafted Word through meekness, James tells us. Meekness is teachability and submission. It is yielding to the one you choose to submit to.
Jesus told the Parable of the Sower to the people but explained it later to his small group of disciples. He said, if you do not understand the Parable of the Sower you will not understand any of the other Parables.
A Sower went out to sow. As he sowed some seeds fell by the wayside. The birds of the air were quick to pick up those seeds and devour them. Some seeds fell among stony ground. The seeds sprung up quickly but when the sun became hot they withered because they had no depth in themselves. Another lot of seed fell among thorns. They also grew quickly but they were eventually choked by the thorns. Another portion of seed fell on good soil. It produced 100, 60 & 30 fold.
Jesus explained that the birds in the air that picked up the seeds from the wayside are demon spirits. They make sure nothing grows. They remove the Word of God before it can be established in a life.
The stony ground speaks of people with hard hearts. Something happened that hardened their hearts towards God and towards others. Although they respond to the Word of God they have no depth of good soil in themselves so when persecution arises for the Word’s sake the plant withers and dies.
The thorny ground represent three things: the cares of this life (Greek: Merimnao), the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for other things entering in. Cares, worries & anxieties prevent the Word of God from producing results in our lives. We should learn to deal with those cares by casting our cares upon Him for He cares for us. Many people that want to get rich quickly pierce themselves through with many sorrows and even shipwreck their faith because of the deception of riches. People think if they are rich they have no more problems. It is a false hope. The love of money is the root of all evil. And yet many self-help books teach you that in order to make money you must love money. You cannot love money (the god Mammon) and God at the same time. You either love the one and hate the other or vice versa.
The desire for other things creeping in are also like thorns that squash the Word of God. If you desire anything more than God it will prevent the Word from producing good fruit in your life. We have to check what we desire. We need to love God above everything else. The Psalmist said: ‘I desire to do your will oh God, and to walk with you is not grievous to me!’
The good soil is a heart that understands. It is soil well prepared. Even before going to church, take some time to prepare your heart. Get in tune with the Holy Spirit. Get ready to receive instruction. Prepare to worship God in spirit and truth. Don’t just go to church to meet people or to listen to the band. A well prepared heart is a key to receiving God’s Word into your heart with understanding.
We walk by faith and not by sight. So we believe we understand so that we may understand. Hebrews 11:3 tells us our forefathers of faith and we believe God created the world by faith. We understand by faith that God created the world. We were not there when He created the world. But we understand by faith that God created the world, the heavens, the sea and all that is in them. We believe God created man and we did not evolve from apes as the Theory of Evolution states.
Ask God today to give you an understanding heart. Ask God to prepare your heart to understand every time you read the Word of God. Ask God to prepare your heart to receive the engrafted Word of God when you go to church or to household meeting or to Bible College. Learn meekness from Jesus. Through meekness you receive the engrafted Word of God. God will graft His Word into your heart and no one will be able to take it out or confuse it. It will grow and produce good fruit.
God’s ways are above our ways and His thoughts above our thoughts, but as the rain comes down and waters the earth and causes it to bud and bear fruit, so the Word of God will not return void but accomplish the thing it was sent to do. We go to church to learn the ways of God. We go to receive from Him. We learn to think like God. The Holy Spirit reveals these things to us. He gives us an understanding heart.
With all your getting, get understanding! It is the key to spiritual growth that affects every other area of your life. Godliness is profitable in all things.
Prepare our hearts and let our hearts be good soil that hears and understand your Word, oh Lord! So that we might bear good fruit in time to come – all to the glory of God.
Amen.
Painting: “The Sower” 1888, Vincent Van Gogh