TWO SEED AND FOUR SOILS, sermon Notes for Sexagesima Sunday, 23 February 2025 Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide

 

The Collect

Sexagesima Sunday

O LORD God, who seest that we put not our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

            Today’s Prayer of Collect, in brief, prays that the Lord can acknowledge our lack of trust in the arm of flesh and our own works, but attribute all power and defense to His Holy Will in our lives. In the eyes of the Lord, our righteousness is as filthy rags because we can do no good work part from Christ working in and through us.

 

            In the Epistle, taken from 2 Corinthians 11:19-31 (not copied here), Paul outlines the many sufferings and struggles he has experienced in ministering the Word of God to diverse regions and people. It serves as a great revelation of the great war that is taking place upon the earth between the relentless slings and arrows of the Adversary and the people of God. As the disciples of Christ, we have sworn allegiance to the King of Kings, and our service contract is ‘for the duration of the conflict’ which will end at the Coming of Christ. In that conflict, we may perceive setbacks on the line, but those are only steps to the final victory.

 

4 ‘And when much people were gathered together, and were come to Him out of every city, He spake by a parable: 5. A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls at the air devoured it. 6. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. 8. And other fell on good ground. and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when He had said these things, He cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. 9. And His disciples asked Him, saying, What might this parable be? 10. And He said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. 11. Now the parable is this; The seed is the word of God. 12. Those by the way-side are they that hear: then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13. They on the rock are they which, when they hear, receive the word with Joy; and them have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14. And that which fall among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. 15. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit, with patience.” Luke 8:4-15

 

            Jesus spoke often ion Parables the purpose of which was to impart the sublime truths of grace, redemption, and retribution.       

            There are only two general categories of seed growing in the fields (hearts) of men – those of the Adversary, or those of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is the Word and, as such, He is the Good Seed which the Sower sows in his field. He is the Master Sower, and His disciples are the servant-sowers of the Word, too. The seed of the Adversary naturally exists already in those soils and only the Master Sower can discern the difference in their growth.

            As followers of Christ, we need to be alert to those different kinds of soils (or hearts) upon which the true Seed falls and to understand the reasons for the rejection of that precious Seed by the greater numbers of men. 

            The Sower sows without distinction of soils. All soils have received the Seed, but the results vary with the kind of soils upon which those Seed fall. 

            When the farmer plants a crop, the soil must be prepared and cultivated. Rocks and weeds must be removed to whatever extent possible. The field must be hedged about to protect against varmints. In this way, the field is just like the hearts of men that must be prepared to hear the Gospel through preaching and the drawing power of the Holy Ghost. But there are fields that are simply lacking in many ways as good soil for planting. The soil may be too rocky, too acidic, too dry, too overgrown with weeds and briars, etc. But we cannot know the soils unless we at least plant the seed and observe if the Holy Spirit will germinate the seed in the darkness of the earth. 

            Let us observe the four kinds of soil here illustrated by our Lord:

 

1.     The First Soil: “ . . . some fell by the wayside; and it was trodden down, and the fowls at the air devoured it.”The heart that is impenetrable or never impressed by the divine truth. These are men whose hearts are indifferent to the Gospel and who listen in careless abandon or even open rebellion thereto. These have no time for the foolishness of preaching. The Seed cannot even take root in such hearts. Their patron father, the Devil, snatches up the Seed immediately since it is left exposed without cover or care. These are the ones who fill bars and nightclubs while the churches remain unattended. 

 

2.     The Second Soil: “And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.” These are hearts that lack a depth of top-soil and are filled with the hard rocks of sinful sinners with whom they associate closely. They may rejoice at the hearing of the Word, but are easily deterred from the path of righteousness when temptations arise. They have a superficial interest in the truth, but, by-and-by, forget it the moment temptation arises. Their souls are dry of the oil of the Holy spirit to nourish and sustain growth. These may make a public confession of Christ without truly knowing the One in whom they claim to place their trust. Shallow and shakable are these.

 

3.     The Third Soil: “.And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.” The seeds of thorns and tares are always present, even in the good soil, but these flourish beyond control in the hearts of those whose attraction to the things of the world outweigh all other considerations. They allow themselves to be smothered out by the cares and illicit desires of the world. Their self-wills remain in the bondage of sin, and there is no such thing as a Free Will apart from that perfect law of Liberty assured by the very Author of Liberty, our Lord Jesus Christ. Only when our self-wills are surrendered to Him can we claim a will that is free.

 

4.     The Fourth Soil: “And other fell on good ground. and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.”  I need not remind the bible scholars reading this devotion of the necessity of a seed to die to self in order to produce an abundance of fruit. The good ground is that whose natures are receptive to truth and love. The Good Seed has a tiny kernal of life enclosed in a shell casing of nutrients to give hope of survival until the seedling burst forth into a rich environment of loamy soil.. But the soil must be good in order to continue to nourish the seed plant as it struggles in the darkness of the earth to escape its earthly confines and spring into the brightness of the glorious Sun of righteousness.  How like the true believer is this soil and its response to the Good Seed. We come from the dust of the earth, yet we have a soul that struggles in the darkness of the world until the Stranger of Galilee calls our names and we are made anew in the light of His Word.

 

The honest and good heart is not subject to the vicissitudes of the three other soils. It thrives on truth and love which it could only know by means of the Word of God informed and enlightened by the Holy Ghost. It is my prayer that this fourth soil represents the heart of all who read these sermon notes. 

 

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN