Today’s Passage: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’ Romans 10:15 (Isaiah 52:7)
As a continuation of the personal evangelism theme that began with “Here Am I, Send Me”, we will focus on Jesus’ parable about the sower and the seed. This series focuses on the necessity of spreading the gospel, the power of the Word and an explanation of what the gospel is.
Jesus taught a parable of about a sower to his disciples in Matthew 13:1-23. As you read through these verses, place yourself in the role of the recipient. Remember those who taught you the gospel of Christ and changed your life forever. Consider your life, how you received the gospel and what you are now doing with this precious gift.
On the same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea. And great multitudes were gathered together to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them.’
But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:1-23
We know from Jesus’ explanation that when the seed is sown, each recipient will react differently to the gospel. Some will be so hardened and close-minded that they will reject the Word immediately. The gospel will be quickly snatched away from their hearts. If they were willing to listen, they may believe the gospel and obey it; instead they reject the precious gift of salvation.
Others receive the word and are zealous at first. When they experience trials and struggles, they immediately lose their faith in God to take care of them and harden their hearts against the gospel. Because the seed never took deep root in their hearts, their tendency to focus on their problems overshadows the realization of the great hope that they have been given in Christ Jesus.
Still others are so caught up in the desires of the world such as their jobs, money, lust, gambling and other sins that they no longer reflect the light of Christ in their lives. People cannot distinguish them from those who have never been saved because they do not bear fruit for the Lord. They are entrapped by their lust for pleasure and live for the moment instead of preparing for eternity.
Yet there are precious souls who receive the Word, are zealous for the Lord, study to ensure they understand God’s will for them, live as godly Christians and reflect Christ’s love. They do not keep such a wonderful gift to themselves but they share it with others. Their lives are spent loving and helping others, bearing fruit of the Spirit and bringing lost souls to God. Only these can truly carry the name “Christian” because they belong to Christ.
In order to be the sower mentioned in the parable, we must at least have received the Word initially making it impossible for us to have received the seed tossed along the wayside. In order to continue sowing, we must endure so this removes the possibility that we received the seed on stony places. In order to remain the sower described in the parable we must have faith that God will sustain us even in hard times. This means that we cannot be those who received the seed among the thorns. The conclusion we must make is that in order to be the good sower who spread the gospel everywhere he went, we must have received the Word, understood it, and born fruit.
Now let us read the passages below but this time, let us place ourselves in the parable as the sower. Imagine that you are the one scattering the seed along the way, sharing the gospel with those with whom you come in contact.
“Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. Some fell on stony places, where they did not have much earth; and they immediately sprang up because they had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”…
“Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
To be the sower that Jesus wants us to be, we must have the right kind of heart in order to receive the Word. After hearing, believing and obeying God’s Word, we must then go about the business of sharing the gospel with others. “Here Am I, Send Me” focused on being ready for action and noticing opportunities for sharing God’s word. It also discussed the fact that we must make the decision to cast away fear in order to save lost souls.
Did the sower allow fear to stop him from spreading the gospel? No. If he had, he would not have spread it among the wayside, rocky places, thorny places and the good path. He would have avoided the paths that seemed treacherous or a waste of time. We must also intentionally spread the gospel everywhere we go. Since we neither have the ability nor the authority to judge others’ hearts, we must not avoid teaching someone because we consider her unlikely to respond. The sower who bears fruit and produces a hundredfold is a good soul who sees value in everyone. God saw value in sinful man and prepared a plan of salvation to redeem us. Praise be to the Lord that He did not consider it to be a waste of time to offer salvation to us because many would reject this precious gift.
Fear of taking the first step to preach the gospel to others can be debilitating if we allow it to become a habit. We can study every passage in the Bible regarding the gospel, prepare as much as possible and pray to God for courage and strength but if we do not take the first step, our preparation has been in vain. Preparation alone is worthless if it never leads to action.
The power that saves souls is not found in our own words or actions but in speaking the inspired words that we read in the Holy Bible. As Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation” Romans 1:16. He understood that the power comes from the gospel because it is God’s Word. Paul was merely the tool that God used to save souls as he states, “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” I Corinthians 2:3-5.
This concept is further described in I Corinthians 35-7: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”
If we truly believe this, then what can keep us from sharing the gospel? If the gospel is rejected, then it is Christ who is rejected (Luke 10:16). Yet how can we know what good can eventually come of the seed that we planted? Perhaps years later the seed will grow within the receiver’s heart and he will consider what he was taught and desire to read more. Remember, it is God who gives the increase when the hearer obeys the gospel.
It gives me joy to think of the words of Isaiah and Paul as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!’ ”Romans 10:15 (Isaiah 52:7)
Let it be said of us, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” How much more can love be shown than to share the hope of the gospel to those who are lost in sin?
To conclude this second lesson of the series “Here Am I, Send Me”, let us consider this inspirational passage: “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” Galatians 6:7-9
I pray that these lessons will create in us the desire and zeal to reach out to the lost. I am currently preparing teaching tools for sharing the gospel for my own use that I hope will be beneficial to you as well. They will be available free as a download on our Priceless Pearls website. I will inform you when the document and tools have been completed with directions for downloading them.
May we never lose heart in doing good and spreading the gospel to others. God bless you for studying with me. May we all grow in courage and love as we share Christ’s precious gift of salvation with others.
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