The parable of the sower, stumbling block methods; John 16:1; Mat 13:1-8; 19-23.

Title: The parable of the sower, stumbling block methods; John 16:1; MAT 13:1-8; 19-23.

 

Some of the methods for producing stumbling blocks are listed in the parable of the sower, Matt 13:1-8; 18-23.

 

Matt 13:1 On that day Jesus went out of the house, and was sitting by the sea.

 

Jesus is going to teach a series of parables to Israel, knowing that her end is near, which is the meaning of leaving the house. She will fall under the 5^th cycle of discipline in 70 AD and will not be restored until the Second Coming, therefore each of these parables deal with the time of the dispersion or the time of no client nation status for Israel which is the CA and the Tribulation.

 

Matt 13:2 And great multitudes gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole multitude was standing on the beach.

 

Matt 13:3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;

 

Before we dissect the parable I want to share with you an excerpt from book VII of Plato’s Republic in which we find Socrates talking to Glaucon, who is Plato’s brother.

 

“SOCRATES: And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened:—Behold! human beings living in a underground den, which has a mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and necks chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads. Above and behind them a fire is blazing at a distance, and between the fire and the prisoners there is a raised way; and you will see, if you look, a low wall built along the way, like the screen which marionette players have in front of them, over which they show the puppets.”

 

I’ll summarize the rest for time’s sake. All the prisoners see are the shadows on the wall, some of which talk (which are just echoes from the others in the cave), others don’t. This is their reality. They speak to one another and name the shadows. Their only truths are the shadows on the walls of the cave and the other prisoners. One of the prisoners is released. He finds a source of light and follows it to the outside. He is blinded by such a light. It is extremely painful. We might surmise that the pain and the fear of something misunderstood would send him back down to the cave, the place that he had grown accustomed to and comfortable with. This is like our first person in the parable (he hears the gospel of deliverance and he fails to put his faith in its reality and heads back into the lie or stumbling block).

 

Let’s say that he does go outside and stays out there until his eyes adjust and he sees a greater reality of the outside world. He will discover that everything he saw before was an illusion. He looks at all the object around him, sees the sun, the moon and the stars and has become enlightened.

 

“And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself (congratulate himself) on the change, and pity them?”

 

“And if they were in the habit of conferring honours among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows and to remark which of them went before, and which followed after, and which were together; and who were therefore best able to draw conclusions as to the future, do you think that he would care for such honours and glories, or envy the possessors of them?” (man looks for entertainment and promotion within the lie)

 

If he pities them and goes back into the cave to inform them of their delusion wouldn’t he first have a hard time seeing in their world again, everything seeming so dark? They would look at him as a fool, no longer able to function well in their world as well as having tales of another world that they had never seen. Socrates concludes that they will either laugh at him or kill him, or both, which is exactly what they did to Christ.

 

It is my personal belief that enlightened minds like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were setting the stage for the Messiah, though they did not believe in the Hebrew God, and if you remember in the case of Cyrus the Great, king of Persian, God can use the unbeliever to His purpose.

 

In 516 BC the Jews returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt the city and the temple and the word of God was read again. In 400 BC Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle open the minds of the Gentiles to what is inherently good, effectively impregnating the Gentile mind with the idea of divine virtue, though not yet associated with the God of the Hebrews. In 336 BC Alexander the Great conquered Palestine and left the Jews alone. Around 250 BC the OT is translated into Greek (Septuagint). In 53 BC Julius Caesar plays a critical role in establishing the Roman Empire. 50 years later Christ is born and 33 years after that the Church begins in a Greek speaking world and is spread by means of Roman roads.

 

When the Jews returned to Jerusalem the Persian emperor directed that they were not to have a king. At that time God prepared the world for Israel’s true King and the King of kings to the Gentiles.

 

John 1:5

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

 

Once enlightened the cosmos appears darker than it ever was. When we return to play in it, not for the purpose of saving our friends, but returning for pleasure or relief we find that it wasn’t at all like we remembered it. Once you’ve tasted the full extent of the outside world, remaining long enough to grow accustomed to it and it no longer is confusing or painful to the eyes then the cave just won’t do anymore. This is why the Lord took a small child on His knee as he spoke to his disciples. It’s the newer believers, the ones who have just begun in doctrine, who only have a year or two or three that are the most vulnerable. Woe to those who set traps for them.

 

Matt 13:4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

 

The seed is the gospel brought to the world through believers. Every believer is in the RFOG and is an ambassador for Christ.

 

These are unbelievers. The seed didn’t go into the soil but rather bounced off the top soil and fell by the side of the field and were devoured by the birds representing the false doctrines of the cosmos. They have heard the gospel and rejected it and then the false doctrines of religion, evolution, legalism, morality, etc. snatches away any consideration of salvation by grace in faith.

 

Explanation: Matt 13:19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one [poneros - evil of the cosmos] comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.

 

#1 - the person who has heard the gospel, rejected it, and has his heart immediately implanted with falsehoods concerning Christ.

 

Matt 13:5 "And others fell upon the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil [doctrine].

 

Matt 13:6 "But when the sun had risen [pressure], they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

 

The last three categories are believers. This second category is the believer who is brand new into doctrine. Satan adds the pressure on believers just into doctrine immediately.

 

“If they put pressure on Me they will put pressure on you.” This pressure is designed to draw the new student away from doctrine and the pressure is released and the so-called “normal life” is regained.

 

What’s interesting is that a lot of the pressure was there before doctrine, but we mostly don’t notice it or recognize it as we do when we have doctrine. With doctrine in your soul you’re much more sensitive to your circumstances because you’re finally thinking right, with real truth, objectively, rather than blindly going through life in the cosmos. But for sure, the new student of doctrine has the heat in their life turned up.

 

Explanation:

Matt 13:20 "And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word, and immediately receives it with joy [early enthusiasm];

 

Matt 13:21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.

 

He’s shocked that affliction and persecution would go along with Bible doctrine. This is because he’s never heard sound doctrine before and so he never experienced persecution because of some form of knowledge. No one persecuted him for taking a cooking class or a yoga class, but they come out of the woodwork when he is identified with doctrine class.

 

#2 - the new student of the word of God who soon quits on doctrine due to the pressure that comes with being associated with doctrine.

 

Our next contestant hears a little doctrine and begins to be a testimony or ambassador for Christ. He has some doctrine and so he stumbles in another way.

 

Matt 13:7 "And others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

 

He grows a bit. There is root and stalk, but the thorns grow right alongside.

 

Matt 13:22 "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

 

The word “worry” means care and anxiety. This is enemy #1 of any believer - mental attitude sins.

 

So this person is a believer who has some doctrine but refuses to apply it. By not applying faith rest to situations and without hope or confidence of future deliverance from God they worry and are distracted with anxious cares.

 

The deceitfulness of riches refers to the belief that wealth and not Bible doctrine will bring peace, tranquility, and happiness to a person.

 

Therefore this person doesn’t have to be rich. He simply has wealth as his top priority. In the cosmos system wealth promises to fulfill man’s heart and it cannot. There is nothing wrong with being rich, but there is everything wrong with believing that it fulfills the heart.

 

The quest for wealth has become one of the greatest stumbling blocks to the Church.

 

Matt 17:24 And when they had come to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter, and said, "Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax?"

 

Matt 17:25 He said, "Yes." And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect customs or poll-tax, from their sons or from strangers?" 

 

Matt 17:26 And upon his saying, "From strangers," Jesus said to him, "Consequently the sons are exempt. 

 

Matt 17:27 "But, lest we give them offense, go to the sea, and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a stater. Take that and give it to them for you and Me."

 

vs. 26 - “sons are exempt”; believers don’t pay “tax” or tithe to God.

vs. 27 - God will provide the believer’s every need.

 

Therefore, wealth accumulation is nothing compared to the spiritual wealth of the plan of God. There is nothing wrong with wealth if it is your servant and not your master.

 

Matt 6:24

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

 

Matt 13:22 "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

 

So not only does he have mental attitude sins but he has a false scale of values, which indicates some doctrine but not enough to change his scale of values; no faith rest, no PSD, and no occupation with Christ.

 

And because this believer can never break away from the mental attitude sins, fear, worry, envy, jealousy, etc., and because he has a false scale of values, he never succeeds. He is a believer but he never succeeds.

 

In categories two and three we have eternal security. In each case the believer is saved but in each case the believer does not succeed.

 

The second category of believer does not succeed here because he is ignorant of doctrine and, of course, operates on his emotions.

 

The third category of believer does not succeed here because he never puts into action the doctrines he has learned with regard to the techniques of application, specifically the faith rest drill, personal sense of destiny, and occupation with Christ.

 

If the word is choked due to lack of application then there is no fruit and Christ is not glorified by your life.