Thank you so much for tuning in and Welcome everyone – Hope you’re well!  I’m your host, Ben Lively, and you’re listening to “Shaken Awake” – Episode #66!  

 

I want to thank you for tuning in with us today, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing right at this very moment.  It means everything to me to share the messages that God’s laid on my heart to share.  I want to give a special shout-out to some new listeners in Kenya!  No doubt how this podcast landed in their ears – Thanks be to God for moving these messages to those He wants to touch.

 

And, as always, I promise you another great show – But, more than anything, my HOPE for you today, and always, is that you have an actual encounter with the Lord, not just another podcast episode.   

 

Quick ask – if you’ve found value in these episodes, would you take 30 seconds after the show to go to submit a quick review and star rating in your app.  This is what potential listeners look for when deciding whether to give a show a listen – which is confirmation from other listeners that it can bring value.  Would you do that for me, IF and only IF you find value in these episodes?  For those of you that already have - I can’t thank you enough. 

 

Also, spread the word; pass on a link to your friends or family, or colleagues that the Lord prompts you to send to – there are many people that need to hear these messages and scripture and God will see to it that it gets to them.  Then, He’ll do the rest.

 

So, without further delay, let’s get ready to invite God in with us, right here, right now, and allow Him to speak directly to your heart and minds.   

 

We’re going to resume our series of parables today, and this one I believe is going to surprise many of you!  Not because it’s a parable you haven’t heard before, but there are two hidden meanings inside the parable – one in the parable itself, and one just after Jesus tells this parable to the crowd.  I went my whole life not seeing – but it was right there in front of my eyes the entire time – sound familiar?  

So, today’s topic is “The 3 Hidden Messages in the Parable of the Sower – they ALL pertain to YOU!”

 

Many of you have known this to be the parable of the sower.  I’m going to read it quickly from one of three separate places in the Holy Bible this is shown, and then provide you with the hidden messages contained.  At least, they were hidden from me all these years until just a couple of weeks ago.  I need to share these with you.

 

So this parable is found in Matthew 13:3-9; Mark 4:2-9; and Luke 8:4-8.  I’m going to use Mark chapter four version.

 

 

4 Again He began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about Him so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in parables, and in His teaching, He said to them: 3 “Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root,  it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

 

13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?  14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown:  when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the  soil are the ones who hear the Word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

 Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower highlights four different responses to the gospel. The seed is “the word of the kingdom.” The hard ground represents someone who is hardened by sin; he hears but does not understand the Word, and Satan plucks the message away, keeping the heart dull and preventing the Word from making an impression. The stony ground pictures a man who professes delight with the Word; however, his heart is not changed, and when trouble arises, his so-called faith quickly disappears. The thorny ground depicts one who seems to receive the Word, but whose heart is full of riches, pleasures, and lusts; the things of this world take his time and attention away from the Word, and he ends up having no time for it. The good ground portrays the one who hears, understands, and receives the Word—and then allows the Word to accomplish its result in his life. The man represented by the “good ground” is the only one of the four who is truly saved, because salvation’s proof is fruit (Matthew 3:7-8; 7:15-20).
 
 To summarize the point of the Parable of the Sower: “A man’s receiving and response to God’s Word is determined by the condition of his heart.” A secondary lesson would be “Salvation is more than a superficial, albeit joyful, hearing of the gospel. Someone who is truly saved will go on to prove it.” May our faith and our lives exemplify the "good soil" in the Parable of the Sower.

 

 So now you ask, “What are the three hidden messages within this parable?  I understand it all pretty well as it’s written.”  And to you I say, of course, and that’s what I believed as well.  Here they are, in order.  

 

1.   – Remember that the Large crowd was so big that Jesus and His Disciples had to get into the water in a boat so they would have room to speak so everyone could hear (remember this for the hidden message).  

2.   – The Sower is God – He sows the Word (vs. 14). We are not the seed – the Holy Spirit is!!!  The seed is the same no matter what the soil – it is the SOIL that we are or become.  There is no different Holy Spirit being indwelled within us, but there are many types of soil (you and I and everyone else that hears God’s Word) that what we do affects how that seed grows.  We’re the soil!  It’s what kind of soil are we, not the seed!  

3.   – Notice how little the crowd got after Jesus was done speaking the parable – those around him along with the Twelve.  THOSE are the ones He wants to capture and impact with His Parables.  You see, without Jesus explaining the parable, even the Twelve Disciples could not understand, and that’s why they asked Jesus….nor did those around them (not the entire, gigantic crowd), so they were so hungry to hear the word and meaning of Jesus’ parables, they thirsted for more knowledge as the Twelve Disciples did.  The rest of the crowd went away and dispersed and never received the full meaning of the parables – they were and to this day are INCAPABLE of understanding without the wisdom and understanding that only the Holy Spirit can provide us.  This is why The Holy Spirit is also referred to as our Helper, by Jesus Himself.  He is the One that helps us understand the meaning and words of God.  Not us or our wisdom or understanding – we are incapable on our own.

 

This is why it is so important for us to evangelize and tell others about the gospel and of God’s Word.  For they too, become soil when the seed is sown.  

 

I’ve said a million times in my life and I’ll likely say it a million more – it’s not WHAT you know that matters; it’s what you DO with what you know that matters.  What are YOU doing?  Which type of soil are you?  Which type of soil have you become today?  Think.  It’s between you and God in the end – I’ll have to answer and account to God one day soon as well – what did I produce from the seed that was sown in me.  Which type of soil did I decide to become and what did I produce….or not!?

So, before we end today’s show, I just want to thank you all again for tuning in and I HOPE you were touched by today’s message and scripture.  If you’d like to reach out to me, please call me directly at 4074933208, email me at ben@shaken-awake.com, or check out the show at shaken-awake.com.

 

Until next time, take great care of yourself and each other, and God Bless You ALL.