Be Concerned - The Word is Seed

Luke 8:11, "The seed is the word of God." Our Lord Jesus made that statement as he began to explain his parable of the sower. The parable goes like this, beginning at Luke 8:5, "A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock, and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold." When he had said these things, he cried, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Then he explained, "The seed is the word of God." The soil is the human heart. Some hearts are hard, and the seed does not get in, and the devil comes and snatches the seed. Some hearts are shallow, and they give an immediate emotional response, but there's no depth, there's no root, and when trouble comes, that seed is unfruitful because the plant just withers away. When the sun shines on rootless plants, it kills; when the sun shines on plants that have roots, it gives life. And there has to be a root system.

And some hearts are crowded, and the roots go down and the shoots come up, ah, but the weeds also grow up and the plant is smothered and cannot produce fruit. But some of the seed falls on good ground. Our Lord is not suggesting here that the human heart is basically good. "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?" asks Jeremiah the prophet in Jeremiah 17:9. But there are hearts that are prepared—soil that's been plowed up by conviction. The Holy Spirit of God has prepared the soil for the seed, and the seed takes root and bears fruit.

That's the parable of the sower. We want to focus on: "The seed is the word of God." To begin with, the word of God has life in it. "The word of God is living and powerful," says Hebrews 4:12. The word of God has life; the word of God gives life; the word of God sustains life, just like seed. It has life in it. Now, man's seed does not have life in it.

In 1 Peter 1:23, Peter's talking about our born-again experience, and he says this: "Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." Now, human seed is perishable. The divine seed is not perishable; it's incorruptible. It lives and it abides forever. "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever." The word of God has life in it.

Secondly, the word of God is compared to seed because it is small, but it's powerful. A little seed can get underneath the concrete sidewalk and begin to germinate and take root and grow, and before long you have a cracked sidewalk and then a tree comes through. A little seed can germinate next to your foundation of your house, and before you know it, you have a cracked foundation. A seed can do the job. A seed has power in it. You plant a field of single seeds, and they take root and they grow, and before long they are reproducing in millions of seeds. There's life in it and there's power in it.

If you want power in your life, that power comes from the word of God. There's nothing more powerful than the word of God. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," said Paul in Romans 1:16, "for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes." For the word of God is living and powerful, and the power of the word of God comes into your life when that word is received and believed and obeyed.

The seed is the word of God because the seed has to be planted before it can do any good. Seed in the seed bin is not going to reproduce. Seed in a jar on the shelf is not going to reproduce. Seed in the sower's hand is not going to reproduce. That seed has to be planted.

Now, our Lord compares this to the preparation of soil and the planting of seed in soil. The human heart is like soil. That's good because soil and seed belong together. When God made us, he made us so that we could receive the word of God.

The seed has to be planted. Now, the Lord Jesus means that we have to understand the word of God. In Matthew 13:23, Matthew's record of this particular parable talks about that: "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."

Notice that statement now: he hears the word and he understands it. Now, Luke says that he hears the word of God because the ground has been prepared. Notice now, Luke 8:15, "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience," or with endurance.

It's important to understand the word of God. Let me say this: it isn't enough just to quote the Scripture. It's important, though, that we explain the word of God to people. That's why Back to the Bible is on the radio and other radio ministries that teach the word of God. We are explaining the word of God. And as you receive the word of God into your heart, the seed is being planted. And you may not see any great consequences right now, but the day will come when that seed is going to bear fruit.

The word of God is compared to seed because it has life, it's small but powerful, it must be planted to do any good, and it produces fruit. The seed of the word of God produces fruit in that we can win people to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, it's a beautiful picture: you're sowing the seed of the word of God in the lives of friends and neighbors and perhaps family members, and you're praying for them; you're watering the seed with your prayers and with your tears, and God saves them. That's fruit that comes from the seed. You didn't do it; God did it.

In Romans 6:22, we have a second kind of fruit that the word of God produces in our lives: "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness," or to sanctification, "and the end, everlasting life." The holy word of God planted in the heart has to produce a holy life.

It's interesting sometimes you meet people who have a great knowledge of the Bible, but their lives are wicked. They have a head knowledge, not a heart knowledge. Holiness, if we receive the seed of the word of God, it produces holiness in our lives.

Romans 15:28, you have a third kind of fruit: our giving to help others. Romans 15:28, Paul was taking up an offering among the Gentile churches to share with the Jews in Judea. They were going through a rough time in Judea. And Paul says this in verse 27: "It pleased them indeed, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of their," that is the Jews', "spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things." That's a good principle, isn't it? If you're blessed spiritually, you share materially.

The people had received the word of God in these Gentile churches. This seed had taken root, it had grown, now it was producing fruit, and one of the fruits that comes from the word of God is generosity.

Galatians, of course, Galatians 5:22-23, we have a listing there of the fruit of the Spirit: Christian character. And he tells us that we should have love, joy, and peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Where does all this come from? The word of God. When day after day you read the word of God, you plant the seed in your heart, your life begins to change. You might not notice it right away, but others are going to notice it, and you start to produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God—Christian character.

Hebrews 13:15 gives us another kind of fruit that comes from the seed of the word of God: "Therefore by him, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name," confessing his name, praising his name.

Now, bring the fruit of your lips, praise to God for all he has done for you. If you want your life changed, start spending more time in the word of God. Plant the seed of the word of God down in your heart. For the word of God is living and powerful, and it's going to reproduce the life of God as you walk with the Lord and obey him.

The word of God often pictures evangelism as the reaping of a harvest. Jesus said that the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. The harvest is ready, but nobody's in there to harvest the harvest. And the parable of the sower is a basic parable. You find it in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And in that parable, our Lord says "the seed is the word of God." And so our task is not to argue with people or to debate churches or religion; our task is just to take this precious, powerful, living seed and plant it in the hearts of people.

There are certain principles, certain laws we have to follow if we're going to have a harvest. Now, the first of these laws is what I call the law of preparation. The heart has to be prepared for the seed of the word of God. Jeremiah 4:3, "For thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: 'Break up your fallow ground, and do not sow among thorns.'"

Now, what's he saying? Hearts are like soil, and soil is in different conditions. Now, you and I don't always know what people's hearts are like. But I know in my own life, I have to keep my heart plowed up. And if I don't do it, God does it for me, and he does it in a hard way. When the plow of conviction, when the plow of chastening comes through your heart, you know that God is getting you ready for a harvest.

I think it was Francis Schaeffer who said if he had a half an hour to talk to an unsaved person, he'd spend the first twenty minutes finding out where he's coming from. What's his thinking? What is his heart like? Well, perhaps we don't have that much time in witnessing to some people, although that is a good policy to follow. We have to trust the Holy Spirit of God.

Now, I never know when I speak to somebody who else may have spoken to that person. I've had situations in my own ministry where I've begun to share Christ with somebody and they've said, "Oh, you know, my landlady's been telling me about that," or "My uncle's been telling me," or "My mother wrote me a letter and told me about that." Sometimes it's a television preacher or a radio preacher who prepares the way for someone to come along and reap the harvest. The law of preparation: the heart has to be prepared to receive the seed of the word of God.

The law of preparation, which leads us secondly to the law of patience. The law of patience. Mark 4 talks about this, Mark 4:28-29. And here he says when you have sown the seed of the word of God, don't dig it up. We did this when we were in school. We used to have sessions in grade school, and they'd give us little plastic cups and they'd give us some wheat and they'd say, "Now you plant this and you water it and take care of it." And we didn't have much patience and we'd dig it up and see if it was growing or not.

The law of patience: you go to sleep, you can't always be out sowing the seed; you'd like to, but you can't. You go to sleep, you wake up, lo and behold, it's growing! Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we reap if we faint not. It takes time to win people to Christ. You sow the seed, you water the seed, and you wait for God to work. But you keep your eyes open because you're watching for the harvest.

Then there's the law of purity. "You shall not sow your field with mixed seed." Now, the seed of the word of God is perfectly capable of producing a harvest. We don't need the word of God plus man's philosophy. We don't need the word of God plus man's wisdom. The preaching of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness; to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

In 1 Corinthians 1-3, Paul warns the Corinthians: don't mix the seed! Don't mix the seed of the word of God with the things of men, with the wisdom of men. 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.'" The Jews request a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, we preach Christ crucified. Don't mix anything with the word of God.

Now, there's a fourth law: the law of planting. Matthew 13:19, we are told, "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." Verse 23, "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it." When a person understands the word of God, then that word is planted in their heart.

That's why it's difficult to preach. Preaching is a difficult thing. I don't know if you realize that or not. But here you have some people before you, and they're at different stages spiritually. Some are unsaved, some have just been saved, some have been saved for fifty years. You have little children, you have teenagers, and preparing the seed to plant it in the human heart is not an easy thing, because you've got to keep in mind you have many different kinds of hearts out there.

The law of planting says that the seed has to get into the heart. The seed has to be understood. The word of God has to be understood. The word of God has to be understood in order to produce fruit.

Well, there's the law of personal concern. Psalm 126:5-6. It needs no comment. "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." We must water the seed with our tears. The law of personal concern.

That Psalm probably came from the period of time when the Jews returned to the Holy Land. And here they had this seed, not much of it. It was precious seed. They could take the seed, grind it up, and make food for their family, or they could take the seed and sow it and get more seed. But they'd have to wait and they might be hungry.

That's why it's precious seed. That's why he's weeping. He's out there weeping, saying, "Oh God, cause that this seed shall bear fruit that we might be able to have our daily bread." The law of personal concern. Who's out there sowing the seed? Who's out there reaping the harvest?

The law of personal concern, the law of prayer. The law of prayer. Luke 10:2, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few." Now, if you want to know why the laborers are few, read the end of Luke 9.

One man said, "I'll follow you wherever you go." He said, "Well, you may not have a place to live; the foxes have dens, but you may not have a place to live." To another one he said, "Follow me." He said, "Lord, let me go bury my father." "Lord, I'll follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell at my house." And Jesus said, "You put your hand to the plow and look back, you're not fit for the kingdom."

That's why the laborers are few. They want it on their own terms. "Oh yes, I'll be glad to be a servant of the Lord. I'll be glad to be a missionary or a preacher. I'll be glad to serve you, Lord, but here's the way I want to do it. Here's the contract, Lord, you sign it." And God doesn't ask for your contract. God says, "Give me a blank piece of paper. You sign that blank piece of paper. I'll fill in the contract."

The law of prayer: praying that God will send laborers out into the harvest field. "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." Now, you pray for the lost. Are you praying for the laborers? Oh, you say, here we have these loved ones who are lost, God save them. Why don't you pray, "Lord, send a laborer to witness to them. Send someone to their side to talk to them"? The law of prayer, praying that God would send out laborers.

Then there's a law of partnership. The law of partnership. John 4:37-38. "One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors." You see, the sower and the reaper rejoice together. The sower and the reaper get their rewards together. We are laborers together with God. Each man has his own work; each man has his own thing to do; each one is given a ministry, and each one brings glory to God.

The law of partnership: we're working together. Oh, we're using the sickles on each other instead of on the harvest. Let's stop this wrangling, let's stop this arguing and fighting and disagreeing, and let's work together in the harvest field to reap the harvest that is ready. These are the laws of the harvest. They work because they are God's laws. Let's trust him and be faithful.