Sunday, 2/1/2026

The Story Of The Sower

Faith believes what God has revealed and trusts what God has

promised. Faith is formed and fed by the Word of God. This is how it

is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not

seen.

Faith listens to God.

Matthew 13:1–9 (NLT)

Matthew 13:18–23 (NLT)

The word parables literally means comparisons.

Parables are earthly stories that teach heavenly truths.

The parable of the sower is about not just about how to hear, but

how to listen.

The first kind - hardened; the second kind - shallow.

The third kind - very crowded, very busy, no space to grow.

The fourth kind of soil Jesus speaks about is the good soil.

Read the Bible. Listen to what Jesus said.

The seed represents the Word of God.

Hebrews 4:12 (NLT)  

The birds refers to Satan.

The sun represents tribulation or persecution.

Tribulation means extreme hardship, major stress.

The thorns represent the cares of the world.

These four kinds of soils are meant to teach us the four kinds of

hearers in this world and the one who truly listens.

This is the "Calloused Hearer".

Acts 28:27 (CSB)

The second kind of hearer is the "Careless Hearer";.

They are ultimately unfruitful. There is no evidence of life change,

even though they seem to believe for a while, but in a time of testing

they fall away

The Bible tells us the devil also Believes.

1 John 2:19

"The faith that fizzles at the finish was faulty from the first."

Faith is not just a saving faith but a faith that acts.

Romans 5:3

What is endurance? The word "endurance" in Greek is "hupomone",

which means "to stay under".

Real faith means that even when you suffer, you don't give up on

God.

Then there is the "Cluttered Hearer".

These are those who want to believe in God, who want to obey God,

but at the same time, they also want the things of this world.

Demas, for example, he was in love with this present world and

deserted Paul. 2 Titus 4:10

Matthew 19:24

1 Titus 6:9

1 Titus 6:10

Matthew 6:24

The fourth kind is the best, the good one, the only one that is

fruitful. It is the "Cultivated Heart".

The heart that heard and keeps on Hearing but deeper than that they

listened with their heart ears and continue listening and their lives

continue to look more and more like Jesus.

Someone said this well: "You can count the number of seeds in an

apple. But you cannot count the number of apples in a seed."