The seeds which fell along the roadside the enemy quickly picked up so that they would have no chance to take root. In the parable this represents people who heard the message of the Gospel but did not understand or consider it and Satan snatched it away. The seeds which fell on rocky soil took root and began to grow, but since the roots were so shallow the plants quickly wilted under the heat of the sun. This represents people who received God’s Word but laid it down when they experienced persecution and found that there was a cost to pay. The seeds which fell among thorns also took root and began to grow, but were choked dry by the worries of the world and the deceitfulness of obtaining wealth. The seed sown upon good soil represents the person who receives the Word with joy, understands the value of it and begins to bear fruit for the Sower. The Sower, ultimately is God, though He spreads His Word by His faithful servants.
Jesus followed the parable of the sower with a like story of men who sowed their field with grains of wheat only to find that an enemy had secretly sown the seeds of weeds among the wheat. When the wheat sprouted then up came the weeds as well. Weeds use up the nutrients of the soil, but unlike wheat they bear no useful grain. And they could not easily be removed since their roots entangle the roots of the wheat.
The wheat represent the sons of God and the weeds represent the sons of the evil one. Consider why the enemy would secretly plant his sons among the sons of God? "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude, verses 3-4) Their goal is to turn true members of the Church from the original, Apostolic Faith to licentiousness. Licentiousness is a "disregard for the rules of correctness."
Though we usually apply the parable of the sower with the initial message of the Gospel of Salvation, it has a much broader meaning. Receiving the Gospel, repenting of sin, baptism and receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is just the beginning. The Bible teaches that the saints "are saved", "are being saved", and "shall be saved if they endure until the end." After the initial salvation the process of sanctification begins by which we are to, -"work out our salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12) What this means is that the Sower never stops sowing His Seeds of truth. We grow spiritually in the grace and knowledge of God by receiving new "seeds" in good soil which allows them to grow and bear fruit in our lives. We will, at times be faced with trials for the testing of our faith. And at times the evil one will plant thorns or cast stones in an effort to stop or hinder the growth of whatever seed the Lord has just planted.
For example: My dear friend Bishop Joseph Kimani of the Pure Word Churches of Africa shared the hardships he experienced when he learned of the Sabbath Day and was convicted to begin observing it. He was already saved and faithful to all the truth and understanding that he had. He had invited a minister who he had met online to come and preach crusades in Kenya. The man accepted but when he arrived and began preaching the outdoor crusades he preached the need for observing the Ten Commandments, including the fourth Commandment to observe the seventh day Sabbath. After the first meeting Brother Joseph confronted him and explained that his congregations observed Sunday not Saturday. At that point the minister asked the Bishop if he was open to a joint study of the matter and Brother Joseph agreed. After pouring over the Scriptures Brother Joseph became convinced and convicted that Saturday was the seventh day and that the Bible taught Sabbath observance. For years he had just assumed that the Sabbath had been changed to Sunday. But now he understood clearly that God had sown a new seed of truth and that to reject it would be to reject God.
Brother Joseph received this new truth in good soil but it did not stop the devil from sowing thorns and casting stones to cause problems. The next Sunday he announced to his congregation that the Church would begin holding services on the Sabbath the next week. The organization that he was affiliated with quickly sprang into action by sending a high ranking Overseer to the Church. This official told the congregation that Brother Joseph had received "doctrines from demons" and publicly denounced him. About 70% of the congregation left him. Receiving this new truth also cost him his Pastoral salary. But the Bishop was faithful and now God has blessed him with many congregations in Kenya and Tanzania. In 2001 I spent five weeks with him preaching outdoor crusades and strengthening and establishing new Churches.
All Christians are a work in progress. None of us know and understand all of God’s marvelous truths. The Sower never stops sowing seeds and if we ever come to a place in our Christian walk where we deny a truth to be planted and be established in our lives, we will stop growing and eventually die. Every time you read your Bible, hear the Word preached or sing a hymn or praise song, seeds are there to be received and planted. This is necessary in order to complete the sanctification process.
A group of tourists were walking through a picturesque village in Europe and as they passed by an old man sitting on a bench one asked, "Were any great men born in this village?" The old man replied, "No, only babies." Everyone begins life as a baby. Most babies will never grow to be a great in this world. But even the greatest of the great began as a baby who had to grow to the stature of greatness. As a father of five I watched my children grow from their birth. I watched as they struggled to learn to first crawl, then walk and finally run and jump. All five are grown now and have matured in many ways, but they are still learning today. I am happy to serve as Pastor to the four who live in Arkansas. And I have been privileged to watch them grow spiritually in the grace and knowledge of God through the years.
The purpose of the Sower in continuing to sow seeds in our lives is to bring us to the maturity of Christ. We are all still growing. Our Heavenly Father refers of us as His "children." Bringing His children to maturity is the reason the Lord placed certain gifts in His Church, -"And He gave gifts to men. . .And He gave some as Apostles, and some as Prophets, and some as Evangelists, and some as Pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the Body of Christ; until we all attain the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man. . .speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects into Him. . .from Whom the whole Body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the Body for the building up of itself in love." (Ephesians 4:8-16)
