Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:8). Our motivation for producing “much fruit”: for the Father’s glory, and to show that we are Christ’s disciples.
In the Parable of The Sower (Matt 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15):
1. The Sower is Jesus, now Jesus’ followers
2. The Seed is the Word of God, primarily the Gospel
3. The Soils are the four types of hearers
a. The Wayside Hearer represents the closed mind. The seed is on the surface but not in.
b. The Stony Ground Hearer, or the hearer with an emotional mind. The seed is on, and in, but not down.
c. The Thorny Ground Hearer, or the hearer with the wandering mind. Here the seed takes root but bears no fruit. The seed is on, in, and down, but does not come up because it is choked by what preoccupies people.
* Preoccupied by The Cares of This World
* Preoccupied by The Deceitfulness of Riches
* Preoccupied by The Lust of Other Things
d. The Good Ground Hearer, or the hearer with steadfast, understanding mind that bear much fruit. Here the seed was on, in, down, and up. The seed had taken full hold. It had entered the whole soul—filling mind, heart, conscience, and will.
From this parable we learn:
The greatness of the privilege of those who sow the seed, and of those who receive it. Individual responsibility for improving those privileges. The terrible doom of those who hear to no profit (Hebrews 3:4) The final results of those who keep on sowing the seed.
Personal Application:
1. Which of these types of soil do you think you are?
2. What do you need to do to become a productive type of soil?
