An Introduction to the Parable of the Sower

Driving home: Be not many of you teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment.

Martin uses the metaphor of a 'steel fence with spiked ends' made of James 3:1 to represent the increasing judgment and responsibility a preacher faces each time he enters the pulpit.

Now as we begin this morning, I want to ask you a very simple but very vital question. And the question is this. Did you know that this pulpit is surrounded by something like a steel fence with spiked ends to every part of that fence? A fence with spiked ends that constitutes a barrier over which any man thinks biblically must climb before he can enter this pulpit?

6:15 - 6:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin details the first two circumstances: Jesus taught by the seaside to a 'very great multitude,' a mixed crowd drawn by his magnetic person and ministry, not just disciples.

He explains the 'historical present' in Greek grammar by nudging the audience to imagine themselves present, seeing the events unfold, making the text more vivid.

And there is gathered, and Mark uses what the Greek grammarians call the historical present, something that happened in the past, we would normally say, and there were gathered unto him. But by using what's called the historical present, we are being nudged to use our imagination, to place ourselves there, and to see exactly what is coming to pass before our eyes. And there is gathered, gathered unto him, a very great multitude. And in that translation, a very great multitude, the translators have attempted to render what we would call a superlative.

17:23 - 18:08 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin details the first two circumstances: Jesus taught by the seaside to a 'very great multitude,' a mixed crowd drawn by his magnetic person and ministry, not just disciples.

He uses the example of 'many, more, most' to explain the concept of a superlative, clarifying the description of the 'very great multitude'.

We say that he has many things, this boy has more, but that one has the most. Well, the word most is superlative. More comparative. Well, a superlative is used here to describe this multitude.

18:08 - 18:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He continues describing the circumstances: Jesus taught from a boat in the sea, assuming the posture of an official teacher, and used many parables to instruct the minds of the…

An author's suggestion of coves in the Sea of Galilee with steeply angled shorelines is used to illustrate how the multitude could have sat in a natural amphitheater, enhancing the teaching setting.

And as he assumes that posture, he has, as it were, the boat for his pulpit, the shore and the sea for his auditorium, and this vast mixed multitude for his congregation. And someone suggests who is familiar with the, at least the present configuration of parts of the Sea of Galilee, that there are places where there are coves. And in those coves, the shoreline goes up at a rather rakish angle very quickly. And this particular author said it could well be that in just such a cove, there's the vast multitude sitting in a natural amphitheater and an angled one at that, you know,

23:19 - 24:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He continues describing the circumstances: Jesus taught from a boat in the sea, assuming the posture of an official teacher, and used many parables to instruct the minds of the…

He defines a parable as a story from the familiar world of men and things used to convey unfamiliar spiritual truths, moving from the known to the unknown.

Now what is a parable? And it's interesting if you read the commentators and some who have written books on parables, no one can come up with a simple definition of a parable that fits every single usage. So I'm not going to try where others have failed. But suffice it to say that we're close to the heart of what a parable is when we think of it in terms of a story drawn from the world of men and things with which the hearers were familiar, used to convey basic spiritual truths with which they were not so familiar.

27:20 - 27:58 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He continues describing the circumstances: Jesus taught from a boat in the sea, assuming the posture of an official teacher, and used many parables to instruct the minds of the…

He quotes the common saying, 'a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning,' affirming its truthfulness despite its familiarity.

And you can see how etymologically the idea came to be attached to this very device of teaching. You bring in something alongside a concept to illustrate it, to open it up, to instruct in that concern. Now some of you have heard the little statement a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And that's got a lot of truth in it.

28:41 - 29:06 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He continues describing the circumstances: Jesus taught from a boat in the sea, assuming the posture of an official teacher, and used many parables to instruct the minds of the…

He uses the example of wine skins versus wine bottles to illustrate how parables, rooted in first-century Palestine, can be obscure to modern hearers, highlighting the expositor's task.

And I'm not going to throw it out simply because it's well known and I have an itch to be original. It is an earthly story that is a story a statement of realities embedded in this earth, this life, the world of men and things used to illustrate, to set forth a spiritual truth. Now it's precisely because those parables arose out of the real world of men and things in first century Palestine that so often they seem obscure to us. Who of us has ever seen a wine skin?

29:06 - 29:49 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He continues describing the circumstances: Jesus taught from a boat in the sea, assuming the posture of an official teacher, and used many parables to instruct the minds of the…

He contrasts the ancient sower throwing seed by hand with a modern tractor and seed planter, showing how unfamiliar the parable's imagery is to contemporary audiences and the need for historical reconstruction.

That's the task of the expositor, the interpreter, the preacher and teacher of the Word of God. And so we must go through some of the tedious task of trying to ascertain precisely what did Jesus mean in these parables when he talks about a sower who goes forth to sow. We've never seen, I doubt any of us has ever seen a farmer, maybe a few real old folk have, going out on a plowed field and just throwing seed hither and yon. No, you've seen a tractor with a seed planter pulled behind it, putting the seed down at precise intervals in nice even rows on a field.

30:39 - 31:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Be open and sensitive to the Spirit's leading to preach sacred truths to indiscriminate multitudes in non-religious settings, especially when organized religion shows antipathy to truth.

He recounts how Wesley and Whitfield preached in fields during the 18th-century evangelical awakening when organized religion rejected the pure Word, illustrating the legitimacy of non-religious settings for preaching.

Paul would go to the synagogue, the official churches. But when the people in the official churches, this part of organized religion, showed they had no heart, no ears for truth, Paul would leave the synagogue and wherever he could find people with ears to hear, he'd preach the word of God. That's precisely what Whitfield and Wesley did in the evangelical awakening in the 18th century. And Rollins and Berridge and a host of others, when organized religion, there in the British Isles, would have nothing to do with preaching the great concerns of a man's relationship to God and how that relation...

35:10 - 35:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not engage in open-air preaching without God bringing people together for that ministry and without a God-given gift to capture and hold people's attention.

He uses the hypothetical example of a 'harebrained, well-meaning young man' preaching on Changebridge Road to qualify his point about open-air preaching, emphasizing the need for God's leading and proven gifting.

This is God's world and every square inch in that sense is consecrated for His purposes. And so the Scripture tells us sitting in a boat with the congregation facing the sea the Lord Jesus taught the multitudes concerning the kingdom of God. Now, I must say two qualifying things because I know it will happen. Some harebrained, well-meaning young man will go out of this place and go down in the middle of Changebridge Road and stop the traffic and start preaching the gospel.

37:29 - 38:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not engage in open-air preaching without God bringing people together for that ministry and without a God-given gift to capture and hold people's attention.

Martin shares his personal experience of 'cutting his preaching teeth' on street corners, but immediately qualifies it by saying it's not a rule for all, reinforcing the need for God's leading and gifting.

The common people heard Him gladly. Now that's where I cut my preaching teeth on the street corner four times a week shortly after I was converted. You say, why don't you make that a rule for all other young preachers? Because of this simple reason.

38:42 - 38:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Demand that whoever stands in the pulpit teaches the Bible clearly, honestly, and authoritatively, ensuring that biblical instruction remains central to the church.

He uses the metaphor of the 'kingdom of darkness' being erected upon 'foundation blocks of ignorance, error, prejudice and superstition' to contrast it with the kingdom of light built on truth.

As then so now the kingdom of darkness is erected upon the foundation blocks of ignorance, error, prejudice and superstition. That's how the devil keeps his kingdom intact. The kingdom of error is built upon a foundation made of these four great blocks. Ignorance, error, prejudice and superstition.

43:09 - 43:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Demand that whoever stands in the pulpit teaches the Bible clearly, honestly, and authoritatively, ensuring that biblical instruction remains central to the church.

He uses the extreme metaphor of a pulpit being blown into smithereens by a bomb if it ceases to be a 'boat from which Jesus by the Spirit reaches truth to multitudes,' emphasizing the absolute necessity of biblical teaching.

Well I hope you get the message. The purposes of God to extend His kingdom through Trinity Church will be carried out only so long as this place is above all else a bastion of solid, clear instruction under the Bible. When anything other than clear, honest, authoritative, simple teaching of the Bible takes precedence in this place Ichabod will already have been written over it. And if there were some way

45:19 - 46:03 Read in full sermon

The point: If ignorant of fundamental truths about God, self, and Christ, you cannot be a Christian; start studying the basic issues of the Christian faith and cry to God to teach you.

He uses the analogy of learning ABC's and phonics before reading encyclopedias, and 1-2-3 before higher math, to illustrate the concept of 'first principles' and the relative importance of revealed truth.

and the writer to Hebrews says if you are not established in those first principles I can't go on and teach you other things if there is no foundation on which to build the man who will not learn his ABC's and his phonics will never learn to read encyclopedias because encyclopedias in their most complex statements are made up of the fundamental building blocks of A B C D E F A B C D E F A A Q B CH B CH alright you got to learn your phonics got to learn your alphabet the most brilliant mathematician he has to start learning one two three and no you don't jump from three to thirteen you got to h...

51:53 - 52:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Experience a deep, thorough repentance that turns you completely from attachment to the world and sin, rather than superficial 'burps' of remorse.

He uses the graphic metaphor of 'vomiting from the toes' to describe the depth of repentance required to truly turn from attachment to the world and sin, contrasting it with a mere 'burp'.

has nothing to do with what I it has all to do with what Christ is in himself and what he has done in his perfect life and in his death and though it's been thundered from this pulpit talk clearly some of you still unstable as water because you think that somehow you're standing before God rest upon your present state whether you've got a high or a low spiritually in spite of what's been thundered from this pulpit some of you are still not grounded in the simple fact until you vomit from the toes your attachment to the world

56:15 - 57:00 Read in full sermon