No 4

(The Four Soils)

As we know, Jesus taught in parables – the parable of the Sower that is found in Matthew 13:3 to 44, in Mark 4:3 to 20 and in Luke 8: 4 to 15 is the best parable on worldwide evangelism. The emphasis in this parable is about the condition of the soil in which the seed is planted; the soil being the heart. Rising from the heart are all the things that matter – Proverbs 4:23 says “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” The message of the Gospel is rejected by most mainly because of the condition of the hearer’s heart; it is not so much the message or the skill of the messenger. The great mandate we received in Matthew 28:19,20 is not about the Gospel nor about the ability of the one spreading the gospel, it is about the condition of the heart. The Bible has many ways of describing the human heart; here are some : The heart is wicked, perverse, evil, of madness, unwashed, deceitful, disloyal, straying, impenitent, blind, unbelieving, deceived, proud, covetous, hard, foolish, idolatrous, rebellious, stubborn, and dull. Actually, these adjectives describe the depth of man’s depravity. Mark 7:21 says “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

Trying to explain the horrible events that occur everyday in our world is an exercise in futility because the human heart is rotten to the core. When Jesus spoke this parable, He addressed a group of people who would’ve understood the analogy of a sower sowing seed because most were farmers. In verse 8 of the text in Luke , Jesus said – “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” as if to say : “Do some of you get it? Do some of you want to have the explanation of the parable?” Only His disciples wanted to know; they cared to know, they were God’s people and in verse 9b they said, “What might this parable be?” From the very large crowd, only a few really wanted to know. The rest of the crowd, that didn’t want to go further are described in the book of Isaiah – “ Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not” (ch 42:20) Jesus explained the parable to His disciples and, by extension, to us that the seed is the Gospel – the concept of seed is brought forth in 1 Peter 1:23 “ Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” The Lord, from that point on hardened their hearts echoing Isaiah’s words. Those who need to hear the Gospel will hear it and Jesus uses ordinary people like you and me to do this.