Matthew 13:
1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
It has been a classic interpretation that this parable talks about the conditions of the heart. Indeed it talks about four conditions of the heart. But the question arises, if this parable is illustrating four types of soil as the planting ground of the seed, then it looks like they are permanent conditions. But the heart of man is never of a permanent condition.
If we go through the explanation of the parable from verse 18 to 23, we see obstacles that hinder the growth of the seed. Along the way side, we have the wicked one stealing the seed; in stony places we have tribulation and persecution; among the thorns we have the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches; and finally we have the good ground where the seed grows and bears much fruit.
This may not be easily perceivable but this revelation came to me through verse 19 when the Lord said, This is he which received seed by the way side. It occurred to me that location was an important issue here. The parable is not so much about the condition of the heart but more about the surrounding circumstances that affect the condition of the heart. And concerning surroundings and circumstances that condition the heart of man, location is of primary importance. And I believe that God created the heart of man as a planting ground for the word of God. The heart by nature is capable of receiving and growing the word of God in it. And so every man has that capacity to receive the word and grow it in his heart, only that circumstances and obstacles make the heart ineffective and unfruitful.
Dealing now with the obstacles and hindrances, the wicked one is number one in the list. The scenario along the pathway – there the word is not understood and the wicked one has a free arm to easily steal away the seeds sown. It may appear that understanding is a factor and Satan stealing the seed as the result but I would rather that the seed did not even have a chance to germinate and it was stolen away, as seen from verse 4 and in contrast with verse 23.
But the issue with the wicked one is easily resolved because in the first place, why receive the word by the way side when you can receive it somewhere else? And surprisingly, it is only along the pathway (the way side) that Satan is a factor.
Let me give a personal testimony here. Location is of great importance here as in my case, the Lord literally changed my location, from Philippines to Qatar. And in Qatar, I found myself in the company of believers and all I did was work and church. And so the issue with the thief was eliminated and the seed was given enough time to germinate. And boy, what a short time it requires!
Location I believe is an important issue. Not just physical location, but spiritual location also. And when we talk about location, this may mean churches also. I believe that there are churches where Satan is freely able to steal the word of God from the hearts of men. And so finding a good church is an important factor.
That is why, as much as possible we want to bring people in the church. It is as if we are taking them away from the pathway. In the church, we have the fellowship of believers and we have the atmosphere of praise and worship. Satan is never able to do his stealing there. It may not be the case for a new comer, but given enough time and the seed will grow in him and he then will have to move to the next location which is the stoney place.
During the Bible study, I went on to explain that this may apply also to the way we conduct our ministry. When we go about sharing the word of God to other people, are we creating the atmosphere like that in the pathway? In the pathway, there is noise, and everyone always wants to get ahead in the traffic. In the pathway, the soil is continuously compacted and made hard, making it unusable for planting.
1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
It has been a classic interpretation that this parable talks about the conditions of the heart. Indeed it talks about four conditions of the heart. But the question arises, if this parable is illustrating four types of soil as the planting ground of the seed, then it looks like they are permanent conditions. But the heart of man is never of a permanent condition.
If we go through the explanation of the parable from verse 18 to 23, we see obstacles that hinder the growth of the seed. Along the way side, we have the wicked one stealing the seed; in stony places we have tribulation and persecution; among the thorns we have the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches; and finally we have the good ground where the seed grows and bears much fruit.
This may not be easily perceivable but this revelation came to me through verse 19 when the Lord said, This is he which received seed by the way side. It occurred to me that location was an important issue here. The parable is not so much about the condition of the heart but more about the surrounding circumstances that affect the condition of the heart. And concerning surroundings and circumstances that condition the heart of man, location is of primary importance. And I believe that God created the heart of man as a planting ground for the word of God. The heart by nature is capable of receiving and growing the word of God in it. And so every man has that capacity to receive the word and grow it in his heart, only that circumstances and obstacles make the heart ineffective and unfruitful.
Dealing now with the obstacles and hindrances, the wicked one is number one in the list. The scenario along the pathway – there the word is not understood and the wicked one has a free arm to easily steal away the seeds sown. It may appear that understanding is a factor and Satan stealing the seed as the result but I would rather that the seed did not even have a chance to germinate and it was stolen away, as seen from verse 4 and in contrast with verse 23.
But the issue with the wicked one is easily resolved because in the first place, why receive the word by the way side when you can receive it somewhere else? And surprisingly, it is only along the pathway (the way side) that Satan is a factor.
Let me give a personal testimony here. Location is of great importance here as in my case, the Lord literally changed my location, from Philippines to Qatar. And in Qatar, I found myself in the company of believers and all I did was work and church. And so the issue with the thief was eliminated and the seed was given enough time to germinate. And boy, what a short time it requires!
Location I believe is an important issue. Not just physical location, but spiritual location also. And when we talk about location, this may mean churches also. I believe that there are churches where Satan is freely able to steal the word of God from the hearts of men. And so finding a good church is an important factor.
That is why, as much as possible we want to bring people in the church. It is as if we are taking them away from the pathway. In the church, we have the fellowship of believers and we have the atmosphere of praise and worship. Satan is never able to do his stealing there. It may not be the case for a new comer, but given enough time and the seed will grow in him and he then will have to move to the next location which is the stoney place.
During the Bible study, I went on to explain that this may apply also to the way we conduct our ministry. When we go about sharing the word of God to other people, are we creating the atmosphere like that in the pathway? In the pathway, there is noise, and everyone always wants to get ahead in the traffic. In the pathway, the soil is continuously compacted and made hard, making it unusable for planting.
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