THE SOWER (Mt. 13:3)

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1 THE SOWER (Mt. 13:3) Notice the simple introduction with which the Lord Jesus begins this parable, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. He considered it so worthwhile to bring this one sower to the attention of the great multitudes as they gathered round Him on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (vv.1,2). It is just a plain and straightforward statement Behold, a sower went forth to sow and yet, it shows us He notices the faithfulness of those who serve in quiet little out-of-the-way places. Some of us attend to little meetings with only a few folk present, - Richard was in Newburgh this morning, and Terry was in St. Monans. Mary and Janice take special care of our very small Sunday School. Gordon and some of you went round the doors before Easter with Gospel invitations In our small fellowship, we can understand the significance of those words of Jesus, Behold, a sower went forth to sow Often we might feel as if we are on the edges of a large field and the task is far too great for us and besides, it has been ploughed, and ploughed and re-ploughed. Maybe, even, the ground is too hard and it is not worthwhile casting the seed. Nevertheless, we keep on sowing to the best of our limited ability, for as long as we can, while we continue to have the opportunity. Indeed, but for the sower going into the field, there would be no harvest to reap and, in the times of the Bible, if there was no harvest to reap, famine would set in, and starvation and ultimately death. And the same factors are at work today a widespread spiritual famine is all around us, and people are spiritually hungering for a food they do not want to taste and feed from. The statement of Jesus carries with it such a tremendous appeal and it is even more of a priority when we apply the words to that spiritual sowing which takes place for the harvest of souls relates to eternity. The tracts and invitations have been distributed in the area the homes in the area have again been told about Jesus and invited to come and hear of Him. It is an issue of life and death that depends on the sowing of the good seed of the Gospel. It is what we are called to do, Mk. 16:15 Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Whether some see it as a stumbling-block, or even downright foolishness, it is the one and only Gospel that saves men and women, boys and girls from sin and the Lord Jesus uses the analogy of this sower who went out to sow

2 2 HIS IDENTITY We know nothing about him. There is nothing in his description we can draw from that tells us any more, other than he was a sower. He was a sower of seeds and that is as much as we need to know about him. It does not matter who his mother was, or his father. It does not matter where he came from, or what kind of an education he had, or what else he could do His whole identity is lost in the fact he was a sower. It is like when you return to a church and someone tries to remember your name, and they can t but they can remember what you preached on. It does not matter that they don t remember you, but it matters they remember the seeds you sowed. It s like a former member of the Sunday School class comes up to the teacher and says, I remember the Bible stories you used to tell me!... This man had lost his identity in the work of the field, but he had also gained it in another way. He was known by Jesus as the sower of the seed. I wonder how he sowed?... It is not a silly thought. Some people cut their grass up and down, others cut it across, even others cut it diagonally. I m not being silly, but I m trying to make a point. This sower, it didn t matter whether he used the particular way he was taught, - a refined way of sowing, so that he knew exactly where the seed was going to fall. Or maybe he just dunked his hand in the bag of seeds and flung it round him. Either way, - refined or not, - it did not matter, the important thing was the seed was sown. In Anstruther there is the little close, the end at which Thomas Chalmers was born. Chalmers, one of the founders of the Free Church, was well-educated, very articulate and cultured, and God used Him and God also used someone like Billy Bray, the Cornish drunk who the Lord saved and turned into a preacher in the 1800 s You would have had to listen hard to make out what he was saying in his broad West Country accent. It does not matter how you speak as long as the Lord blesses the words you speak from this Book. The Billy Bray s can sow in places the Thomas Chalmers do not get to sow and the Thomas Chalmers might be able to sow greater volumes of seed but it is the same seed, and it is the same Lord upon which the growth of the harvest depends. You might think there s not much you can do, - you have only got a small hand well, even a small hand can manage to sow much seed too.

3 3 And you don t need fancy words, there is nothing fancy about how Jesus introduced this sower, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. That is what a sower does! By the way, how was he dressed? It does not tell you that either. Was he a tall man or a wee man? Was he old, or was he young? It doesn t tell us, because we don t need to know. Jesus simply says, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And that was exactly how Jesus saw him as a man out in the fields doing what he was given to do. What was his name? We are not told that either. How often a preacher s name becomes almost as important, - or even more important, - than the One about Whom he is to preach! This sower s name it doesn t matter what his mother called him at birth; Jesus knew him as a sower [who] went forth to sow. There is something we do know about this man though. It was worth his while going out to sow because he knew the crop that would grow from those seeds was appetising and full of flavour. How did he know? He had tasted it for himself! The psalmist wrote, 119:103 How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! He went out sowing the seed because he knew how good its fruit tasted, and he wanted others to have the privilege and satisfaction of tasting it too. Imagine a preacher standing in the pulpit preaching the Gospel to which he himself is a stranger. It is a ridiculous thought. What if a Sunday School teacher does not know the taste and yet is trying to sow the seed. It sounds silly. It is like a Honda salesman trying to sell you a Honda, but he drives a Vauxhall! No, this sower of the seed would have enjoyed the fruit of his labours and so he sowed the seed that others would taste it too. Something else his bag of seed would not have lasted the whole field. He would have had to go back time and time again into the granary to fill up. One bag would not have done the whole field! Yes, he could have scrimped on the seed and thrown lesser handfuls than he should but what is the point! Even worse, he could have pretended as if he was sowing the seed when he wasn t! Paul described such people as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (I Cor. 13:1) and to Timothy, he spoke of them as vain jangling (I Tim. 1:6) or clouds without water was how Jude described them (v.12)! If there is no seed in the basket, the man is not a sower no matter what he calls himself!

4 4 But this man was a sower. We don t know much else about him but we know he was a sower, - that was His Identity. HIS ACTIVITY Jesus made it very clear what direction the man took, this sower went forth. He did not lie in bed all day, or wait until he felt like going out into the field; being a sower of seed, he knew what he had to do. He wasn t hanging round the gate, holding back from getting into the work. He did not sit and think about it, or go and talk to someone about it he went forth. He was not a worker theoretically, but a worker practically! Some people tell you how the job needs to be done, and how it should be done but you never actually see them doing it! Solomon wrote, 19:15 Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. The idle don t sow! They would rather hang back and wait to see what they can scavenge from someone else who is sowing! Or else, they would rather tell you where you are going wrong! It annoys me when people come to a church to hear the preacher but if you ask them to do something they are not willing, - they don t have the time, but basically, it is because they don t want to, - they can t be bothered! In large churches, particularly, you find they will go on a Sunday to hear the preacher but you will not get them to do anything during the week! They will not dirty themselves by putting their hands to the plough! If that is the case, they are not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven (Lk. 9:62)! This sower was active, because the seed had to be spread on the ground if there was to be a harvest! No sowing, no mowing! He got himself up and went out to the field. If it was raining, or if there was a drizzle he was there anyway. If the sun was beating down he was there, sowing his seed. That was his priority. It s what he was born to do and the more he did it the better sower he became and the better he knew where to cast the seed so it would grow. Some seed here, some seed there cast on ground where he knew would best have the opportunity to sprout. He was prepared for the task! He was taking it seriously, - it was his livelihood. It was not a game, people depended upon how he sowed! They would be waiting for his produce in the market. Similarly, in the Lord s work we need to know what we are sowing is the very best. You don t do it without preparation and hard work. I would not think of coming to the pulpit if I had not prepared in study and in prayer. I would not let a man work on the electrics at home, if he was not an electrician!

5 5 Similarly, those of us who handle the truths of the Word of God must handle it with all care. When you go to share it, you must know it in your heart, - it is not theory, sowing is practical living for the Saviour. The sower s identity and his activity Finally HIS TERRITORY He went into an open field that had already been made ready for the seed to be sown. The open field consists of more than a church building or a church hall. It includes the community on the other side of our church territory. It includes those strange places where the Lord sometimes leads you, places you would never have thought of to people you might never have considered. Wherever the Lord ploughs a patch of ground for the seed to be sown sowing seed is what He expects us to do. There are many places in Kirkcaldy where the seed has not been sown. There are many places full of weeds and thistles, and there is hardly any room for the good seed to fall and grow in such places, when the Lord opens up the opportunities, we need to be quick to sow. And yes, the soil needs to be turned over. Pray for the ground to be turned over - for example, - that we can sow over the ground of the church website. Pray for the ground He has opened up to us through the Air Training Corps. We never know when the opportunity might be taken from us and we ve got to sow when the Holy Spirit has turned the field over! Be instant in season, out of season, said Paul (II Tim. 4:2). When the Lord opens up the field to us, claim it as His territory and sow like you have never sown before! Indeed, it sounds so silly but it needs to be said anyway this sower did not go out to keep the seed to himself. It is a temptation to be not too rigorous in the Lord s work. He did not intend for us to keep Him to ourselves. No, the news about Him needs to be scattered let the Holy Spirit blow it where He may but we need to scatter it. He is not instructing us to do half-a-dozen things at once the sower has only sowing the seed on his mind. Yes, his work was restricted to sowing the seed, and that was all. That was his purpose, - a sower sows seed, and a Christian shows Christ. We are here for Him. Not to maintain a building, not to have all sorts of activities to get people into a building but we are here for Him, and for telling others about Him.

6 6 CONCLUSION When do we stop sowing the seed? Yes, there is indeed a time when we stop sowing the seed it is the time when the Lord comes again. When He returns, it is the time for the harvest. There will be the ingathering of the grain. Some of it, - the good grain, - will be gathered into the barn. Some of it, sadly, will be burned in the fire. If you are not saved, let the Word of God enter your heart, and consider that Jesus Christ died on the cross to take your sins away. Believe in Him and be saved. The seed is being sown that it may fall in your heart and bear fruit. Don t allow the weeds and the thorns and the thistles to start sprouting for they will kill, - they will smother, they will cover, - the good seeds of the Word of God. Believe in Jesus Christ to be saved. Christian, are you sowing as you should? Are you preparing the seed in your hand to cast upon the ground? Are you carefully preparing it with prayer? Are you looking upwards for the Son to shine on it, and for the rain to water it? Are you looking for the signs of growth that you may help it along? Behold, a sower went forth to sow May the Lord be pleased to see His people here in this fellowship go forth to sow and may we be privileged by being blessed with the fruit of our labour! For God s glory, Amen.