Today we continue our exposition in Matthew, in Matthew chapter 13 onwards, but today instead of reading Matthew 13, I read the parallel passage in Luke chapter 8, verses 4 to 8 and 11 to 15. Because today we commence our study in the teaching of our Lord Jesus regarding the parables. Now the Lord Jesus taught in parables, and we have over thirty parables in the New Testament. And so by the Lord's grace, I shall be expounding the parables systematically week by week until we go through these thirty precious parables of the Lord. Today we begin with what we can call the foundation parable, the parable of the sower. And you will remember that we have had occasion in the past, many times, to refer to this parable, though we have not expounded it systematically.
Now, this parable is extremely rich, and I shall aim to bring out one particular point to establish our understanding of this parable as we go along. Now, Luke chapter 8, verses 4 to 8 and verses 11 to 15. Verses 4 to 8 is the parable itself, and verses 11 to 15 is the explanation of the parable. This is the only parable in which the Lord Jesus gives an explanation. So he is teaching his disciples to understand parables. And in the next message, we will study why the Lord Jesus uses parables at all, and whether they are meant to help us in our understanding, or whether they are also meant to conceal something.
Luke chapter 8, verses 4 to 8: "And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable... And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it. And some fell into good soil, and grew, and yielded a hundredfold." As he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Now, that is the parable. And now the Lord Jesus himself gives the explanation, from verses 11 onwards, from verse 11 to verse 15. And this is what we read.
Verses 11 to 15, the exposition, the explanation of the parable: "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root, and they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And as for that in good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience."
Now, from Mark chapter 4, verse 13, we see that this is a foundation parable, where the Lord Jesus says, "If you don't understand this parable, how will you understand any parables?" Therefore, it also occurs as the first of the parables. In all the Gospels, you will see that the parable of the sower comes forth as the first of the parables.
Now, what is the parable? Well, the Lord Jesus says, a sower went out to sow the seed. There is a picture which is very familiar in an agricultural country. You walk along the road, and you will see people sowing seeds in the field. And when the farmer sows the seeds, he just scatters — he uses a scattering motion when he scatters the seeds. He carries a seed bag, a pouch hung around his shoulders, and he takes a handful of the seeds and slings it forth. And the seed is then scattered in an arc across the field. And he walks along, and he scatters it back and forth as he goes.
Now, as you scatter the seeds, of course, some of the seeds fall upon hard ground. For example, where people walk. The path has a very hard surface because people keep walking back and forth and press the ground together. And the seeds that fall upon this hardened ground — the path where people walk — of course are not able to enter into the ground. They lie on top of the surface of the soil. And of course, as you have often seen, wherever the farmer is sowing, you often have a whole flock of birds following behind, waiting to pick up the odd seeds. And so some of the seeds fall upon the path. The birds come along behind, and they pick off these seeds which are on the path, which have not gone into the soil.
And he says there's another group where the seed does fall into the soil, but the soil is not that deep. Now, this kind of person, when the rain comes down and the soil begins to wrap itself around the seed, very quickly the seed begins to grow. And it seems to have a very good response. It gives forth a great response. But after a time, as the roots begin to grow, it finds that down below there's rock. There is a limit to how far it can go down. It hits the rock, and there it stops. Now, because there is rock underneath, the root cannot go down for moisture, and soon it withers. It dies because it has not enough moisture.
And the other kind is one that is sown into ground, but in that ground, this ground is not pure. This ground contains other types of seeds, other types of roots, other types of vegetation in there — and these kinds of seeds or vegetation in the soil are not visible. And Luke makes it very plain to us: it grows up together with the seed. But when it was first sown, you did not see that there were any thorns or any other vegetation there. But after a time, as Luke tells us, it grows up together with the seed and chokes it. The roots of those thorns, the roots of those weeds, entangle with the roots of this young plant, this new grain of wheat, and then it chokes it, so that the wheat is not able to get the nourishment that it needs. And so in the same way, this new plant dies.
Now when we look at this — and I'm going to rush through this first section because I want to get to my main point very speedily — we find that we can analyze this parable into two groups. And each of these two groups has a category of three types in it. So you have two groups and three types in each group. And each of these three types are quite different in each group, and that you need to observe. Not all unbelievers are alike, nor are all believers alike. We must not imagine that all non-Christians have exactly the same heart condition, the same spiritual heart condition, as other non-believers. Each has a very different situation and is going to have a very different response to the gospel.
Now what are these three types? The first group are those who are not saved. They are the unbelievers. But that is not the correct statement, because in fact only the first of this unsaved group are unbelievers. The other two categories are believers, as you'll see in the Lord's own description of the matter. Now of course there is a lot of teaching in the churches which is contrary to this. And I'm not concerned myself with doctrines in the churches. My task is to expound the word of God. And I hope, as we have said before, our hearts will be open to the word of God, and let the word of God take us wherever the truth leads us.
Now, the first category of those who are not saved in this group of the non-saved are those people whose hearts are hardened. Now the key to the parable — and I should mention the key to the parable before going into this — is quite simple. First, the seed is the word of God. This is made very plain to us by the Lord Jesus. This means that the person who sows the seed is the preacher. Now if the word of God is the seed, then whoever preaches the word of God is the sower. That is, whenever you stand up to witness for Christ or preach the word of God, you are sowing. In the first instance the sower here is always the Lord Jesus. But from there on, we who preach the gospel are all sowers. That is why the disciples are also sowers of the seed, as we see in Matthew chapter 10. Their task is to sow the seed.
Now the seed is the word of God. Or it is also in Matthew chapter 13, verse 19, described as the word of the kingdom of God. The word of the kingdom. The message concerning God's rule, God's government. Now last week we saw that the will of God is the central thing in our relationship to God. There is nothing that matters more than the will of God. The will of God is the one thing that matters in our lives, and that we expounded last week. The will of God is represented by this word "kingdom." The word kingdom means God's rule, God's government, God's will. God's kingdom is wherever God's will is done. "Your kingdom come, your will be done." That is why kingdom and will are the same thing, because the kingdom is where God's will is done.
The word of the kingdom is the message which calls upon people to submit their lives to God. Any preaching that does not have this as a central point, which does not preach that every true Christian is a person who lives under God's will, is not preaching the word of God faithfully at all. The word of God — if we preach salvation by just saying "come to Jesus for peace and joy" — that is not preaching the word of God. We must first and foremost preach: come and live under God's government, under God's will. Let God be king of your life. Let Jesus be Lord of your life. That is preaching the gospel. And when you so live, there will be inner peace and joy, but there will also be tribulation, persecution, and suffering, as we shall see in a moment. And any preacher who does not mention that is really not fit to preach the gospel, because he is not preaching the gospel as the Lord meant it to be preached. We are not here to sell candies. We are not here to sell sweets. We are here to proclaim the truth, not to tell people what they like to hear, but to tell them what is the truth. And the truth is not always everything that you want to hear. A doctor often has to tell you the truth. You might not like to hear it, but it is the truth. And nobody likes to be told that he is not well, that he is sick, or that he is dying.
So here we find that preaching the word of God is preaching God's kingdom, living under his sovereignty, under his lordship. Nobody is a Christian who has not yielded his life to Jesus as king. Now that is the word of God, and the sower then is the one who proclaims these things. In the first place the Lord Jesus was proclaiming that word, and now we are proclaiming that word. Not only the preacher but you. Whenever you witness to a friend, whenever you speak the word of God to others, you are sowing the seed.
Then, if the seed is the word of God and the sower is the preacher, then what is the ground? The ground which receives the seed — the Lord Jesus tells us — is the heart. The heart of the person is compared to the soil, the ground on which the seed is sown. You see that in Matthew chapter 13, verse 19: it is sown in his heart. The seed is sown in the person's heart. So this means that whenever we speak of the different types of soil, that is, when this parable describes the different types of soil, it is actually describing the different kinds of attitude of heart. And so prepared with this, we can now turn to these three categories — one category of unbelievers, two categories of believers, but all alike unsaved — by examining the fact of what makes the difference between them.
So the first category of those who are not saved, the first type in that category, are the people who are described as the path on which the seeds fell but could not enter, because the path, the surface, the soil is hardened. That is to say, this represents the kind of person whose heart is entirely hardened against God. You preach the gospel, and it is just like water off the duck's back. You sow the seed, and you just as well have sown it on rocks. It's like going up to the Rocky Mountains and trying to plant wheat on the rocks. Useless. It does not penetrate. This kind of person, this first category, is completely adamant. They will not have anything to do with the gospel. Their hearts are hardened against the gospel. They don't want to listen to the word of God, or if they do listen, they just listen in order to sneer at it, in order to reject it. They trample the gospel underfoot. And in this way, the gospel is utterly unable to penetrate. They do not believe at all.
The second type in this category of those who are not saved are not like this at all. Their hearts, in fact, on the surface are very receptive to the gospel. And so the Lord Jesus compares their hearts to a situation in which you have rich soil, rich topsoil, but rock underneath. This is the kind of person who you have to describe as superficial. And this kind of person is always a great problem to the church, but they are the delight of a certain type of evangelist. Because they are the people who make quick responses. They are the people who at meetings raise their hands very quickly. They don't seem to struggle very hard. As the Bible tells us, they receive the word of God with joy. They gladly receive the word. You see that here in verse 13: "And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word of God, receive it with joy. But they have no root. They have no depth."
We find these words here set out for us very clearly, especially in Matthew chapter 13, verse 5: the words "they have no depth." This kind of person is the problem for every preacher, because when you preach the gospel to them, they receive it with joy. "Oh hallelujah! This is great stuff! Oh, this is wonderful!" And you say, "What a tremendous Christian. Look, he receives it with joy!" And you say, "Raise your hands, anyone who makes a decision for Christ." Their hands shoot up like a rocket. They are the ones. "Come forward." They rush to the front. No problem. They are the people who get their heads counted and all the statistics at evangelistic crusades.
Now of course I am not wanting to say that everybody who raises his hand at a meeting is of this type. There are others too who raise their hands and who really love the Lord and who really have depth. So don't get me wrong. I am not at all wanting to say that. But the problem is: this kind of person tends to be too often in a great majority. There are many, of course, of those who raise their hands at meetings who go forward with fear and trembling and who remain firm to the Lord to the end. These types we must not overlook. I often see people come to the Lord and they come with tears, with fear and trembling. This kind of person is often much more steady. There are other types who just rush forward, and I am afraid of that type.
But here we find that these people have no depth. This second category have no depth. So they receive the word of God and immediately they start growing. Oh, they grow faster than everybody else. And the specialists tell us it's because the rock underneath provides extra warmth and therefore the seed germinates faster. It responds more quickly. And so you see this one shooting up really fast, the other one growing much more slowly. This type shoots fast and you think, "What a wonderful Christian this is!" Not so fast. If you are experienced in God's word, not so fast. Don't be too excited about that yet. Time will tell. Time will tell whether there is root in the plant or not.
So what happens here in this category is the kind of person who is superficial. There is spiritual response, but the response is not deep enough. Why? Because underneath there is a basic resistance, a hardness to the word of God. They are willing to go so far and no more. They are not totally committed persons. They commit themselves, but up to a point. That is why I have constantly warned you that the faith that saves in the Bible is always an unconditional and total commitment. Because if it's not total, that means you have drawn a line somewhere underneath. You alone know — maybe you don't even yourself know where that line is. But one of these days that root will hit that rock. It will go no further. And then what happens is the plant above dies.
Those of us who have served the Lord long enough have seen too many deaths, too many spiritual collapses, too many for our liking. And too often it is the majority that collapses. I would like you to examine your own heart. You have made a response to God, yes? Is it an unconditional response? Have you drawn the line somewhere in your heart and said, "Now I'm going to be a Christian, but I'm going to stop at this point. I'm going to go to church, I'm going to be a good Christian, but I'm going to draw the line here. I'm not going to let the word of God do any more than this. It's got to stop here. But above there I'm going to be enthusiastic — I'll serve in young people's groups, I'll do this and that in the church, I'll be active." Oh, they're very active. Provided it doesn't go beyond this line. They have mentally or in their hearts drawn the line beyond which they will not go. And if you press it far enough, if you take a test of it, you'll find that as you press the rod down into the ground, you'll hit the rock somewhere and it'll stop. And, you know, it doesn't have to be very deep. The roots of wheat don't go that far down, even at the best. So you'll find that the soil is very shallow.
Here then we need to be aware of these matters and observe very carefully these points. Now there is a third type, and this third type is again very different from the first two types. But what I'd like you to notice about the second type is that they do believe. They are categorized as Christians. They are the kind of people who, having received the word of God, will get baptized, they will do this and that and all kinds of things. And so it tells us that they really do believe. But, unfortunately, what is described of them is that they believe for a while, in verse 13. "They believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away." They believe. How can it be said, in the light of scriptural evidence, that once you believe you are always saved? It completely bewilders me the more I study the scripture. We are told in the Lord's own words that they believe for a while. Then they fall away. Finished.
I hear and I see again, and I don't want to spend too much time with our friends who don't really want to listen to the word of God, who invent their own doctrines and theories quite in contradiction to the word of God. Let no one say to you otherwise. Don't stand in deep self-confidence saying to yourself, "Well, I'm okay now. I have believed, I have been baptized." Maybe you belong to this category. I hope not. But perhaps — what if you belong to this category — that you were baptized, you believed, you were all heated up for a while, you got really excited for a time. But when the pressure came, when the tribulation came, you departed. You fell away. I pray to God that none of you will be in this category. So this is the second category, who do believe, but they believe just for a while.
And so it is also with the third category. But the third category is again entirely different from the first two. This category has no problem with rocks at all. Their heart is open to the word of God. There is no rock inside there at all. The soil is good. It is deep. It is fine. So what's the problem? When the word of God is sown, they receive the word of God into their hearts, like the first category, but this time it is not said "with joy." They are much deeper. And people who are deeper often do not make a very superficial response. There is no expression in all three gospels that they received the word with joy. Obviously they received it with hesitation, with trembling maybe, with struggles. They do not have this response. It is very remarkable in the teaching of the Lord Jesus how precise it is. He reserves the words "with joy" only to the second category. The third category does not come this way. Maybe they came forward in a meeting with tears. They wept. They trembled. Their heart was open to God. There is no reservation there.
But — but what? But there were other things in the heart. Their heart was not pure in its devotion and commitment to the Lord. They had not taken out the seeds of other things inside. So what happens is that whereas the word of God does grow in them, they do make a definite response. But soon what happens is that those other things come along and choke it, and it cannot grow. That is the great tragedy of this group. They failed to take into account the words of the Lord Jesus: "You cannot serve God and mammon." You cannot do both. You cannot serve God and Belial. You cannot serve God and other idols. You cannot serve God and the world. Have you made up your mind? Do you know where you stand? Is your heart pure with God?
That is why the Lord Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, as you remember when we were expounding it: "Let your eye be single." For he says that if the eye is not single, you are going to suffer from double vision. And then the light in you will be darkness. And then the Lord Jesus says, "If the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness." All because your eye is not single. Your eye is defective. You don't fix your eye on God. You try to look at God. You try to look at the world. You try to look at this idol. You look at the pleasures of life. You cannot survive like this. You've got to be unconditionally totally committed to God to survive. There is no other way.
Look at your own heart before God. Look at it. Notice it does not say anything about sins here. Notice carefully. It doesn't say that the hearts were full of sins. No, no, no. They received the gospel with joy. They do love good things. They do love the church. They do love the word of God. But it is the word of God plus this plus that plus the other thing. It is Christ plus this plus that. And once you do that, if Christ is not all in all, you don't survive. You don't survive.
So what happens here we are told in this passage with this third category, especially if we look at the Mark passage, Mark chapter 4 and verse 19. You will notice that here too we have this problem. The heart is then choked. The word of God is choked by these other things. Now this category also is very worrying. Because many times I have seen Christians who started out so well. They seem to have a very great depth. Their responses are not superficial. But they lacked single-mindedness. Single-heartedness. And you don't survive without that.
So now we can see that in all these cases all three categories are entirely different. And we have noticed that of these three categories who are not saved, only the first are unbelievers who never accepted the word of God. The other two categories have accepted the word of God but then fall away. And so what happens, as we see in the words here in Luke's passage: they believe for a while and then they fall away. The word "fall away," by the way, is very final in the scriptures. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1, we see the same Greek word used: "Some will depart from the faith." The Holy Spirit says expressly that in the last times, in these last days, some will depart from the faith. The word translated "depart" is the same Greek word as we have there in Luke chapter 8 and verse 13.
Also in Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 12, we find again the same word. In Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12, I believe it is in the English translation translated also as "fall away." Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12, and I'll just read this verse to you because it's a very important verse, because these words are addressed to Christians: "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God." How can you speak to Christians about an evil unbelieving heart? Now what does he mean by evil heart? Here evil does not mean doing evil in the sense of going out to commit murder and robbery. No Christian would think of doing that. But here it is unbelieving heart — that is, not letting God rule in your heart. It is not letting God be king in your life. It is evil because not letting God be king in your life is an act of rebellion. It is a rejection of God's sovereignty. And the result of this is to fall away from the living God.
In Luke chapter 13 and verse 27, the same Greek word is again used, this time by the Lord Jesus as an expression of utter rejection: "Depart from me, you evildoers." There it is translated by the word "depart." "Depart from me, you evildoers. I don't know you at all." And there he is speaking, remember, to those who profess themselves to be Christians. They have rejected Christ in their hearts by the kind of life they live — not necessarily by their mouths.
Now this brings me to the point. In these two categories, when it says that they fall away, it does not mean necessarily that they don't go to church anymore. Some of them don't go to church anymore. But it means that in their hearts they have rejected God's kingdom. God's will is no longer central to them. These are the kind of people who still go along to churches and then after church they rush out to play mahjong. They rush out to put their bets on the horses. They rush out to invest in all kinds of illegal things. Christians are doing this kind of thing. You say, "What kind of a Christian are you?" Well, maybe once in former days they were some sort of Christian. Now they still go to church. After all, going to church can become a habit. You don't feel good if you don't go to church. If you have been going to church for years it becomes a sort of habit. You don't know what to do with yourself on a Sunday morning or afternoon if you don't spend an hour or two in church. But that no longer indicates the quality of life. So by "fall away" in the Bible does not necessarily mean that they have left the church. It can mean that too. Their hearts — we are talking about heart condition, remember that — have turned away from God.
Now that is the first group, and we see the three categories in this first group of those who are not saved. They all fall away, and they are not saved. The second group, again with three categories in it, consists of those who bring forth fruit. They vary again — there is much difference in quality. It's the same seed, but the same seed produces different results in different soil. The word of God that you hear is the same word of God that John Wesley heard. But then why are you not a John Wesley? The word of God that you hear is the same word as John Sung heard. Then why are you not a John Sung? He read the same Bible as you read. He has the same Holy Spirit as you have. Then why are you different from him? What makes the difference? Here is one with a hundredfold and the other is only thirtyfold. He's got less than one-third the production, less than one-third the results of the one with a hundredfold. What's the difference? The difference again is the soil — the quality of your response to God. You need only read the writings of people like John Sung and Wesley to see the quality of their response. It's a different quality. Therefore they experience God's power working through them in different measure.
It should be a challenge to all of us. Always remember this: the word of God that you hear is the same word of God that produced an apostle Paul, that produced an Augustine, that produced a John Wesley, a George Whitefield, and so forth and so on. Same word of God. These are giants; others are pygmies. One produces a hundredfold, the other thirtyfold. Well, it's not the fault of God's word. It's not the fault of the Spirit of God that you are not a John Wesley. It's the different quality of response, the different richness of that soil — the heart. What kind of a Christian are you? Are you wanting to go through God with mediocrity? Think on that day when you stand before the Lord — what will be the difference? Oh, it will be a world of difference.
Now, we saw when we were expounding on salvation that if there is no fruit, there is not going to be salvation. We saw in John 15 that any branch that does not bring forth fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire. The Lord made that very plain already. You may be a branch and you will still be cut off. You can't get more plain than that. And "thrown into the fire" makes it exceedingly explicit. You can't get more explicit than that. But then now consider this: ask before God, what kind of soil is my heart to the word of God? How responsive am I? And don't think it is spiritual modesty to say, "Okay, I'll settle for thirtyfold." That's not modesty. You are hindering the full power of God's word. When that seed could produce a hundredfold, you limit it only to thirtyfold. Then what excuse have you got?
So let us pray that God may have full sway in us, that the will of God will be utterly done in us, without hindrance. Say, "Lord, here I am, in all my weaknesses, all my failings. But let the power be of yourself, not of me. May you have full sway in my life. Accomplish your purpose. Grant only that I may not in any way hinder the full potential of your word."
But now, let us come back to look more deeply at this matter. What makes the distinction between these two groups? This is where I really want to come to the basic point. Because to some of you I may be speaking for the last time — some of you may have left by the end of June — and this one message I would really like you to bear in your hearts. Because that's going to make the difference between survival and the failure to survive. It's going to make the difference between becoming spiritually mighty or not even making anything at all, completely falling away. What is the key to understanding this? This is the one point I would like to establish in your mind.
The whole issue centers on one thing: whether or not you understand the meaning of suffering, and are willing to bear it. Now that is going to make all the difference. At this moment you may not fully comprehend what I say, but I would like you to think about it for a moment. The last word in Luke's account of the parable of the sower ends with the word in the English translation RSV, verse 15 of Luke chapter 8, with the word "patience." Not a very good translation, but we'll let it stop there for a moment. The word actually means endurance. Now that is the key. That last word of the parable is the one word of the parable you do well to remember. If you don't remember the rest of the parable in detail, you do well to remember this one word — the word endurance, patience, as it's translated here. By this word "patience" in Greek is not meant that you sit there waiting patiently for something to happen. That's not the word. That's why I say it's not a good translation. The word is endurance — the ability to stand up under strain, to stand up under stress. That is what the Greek word means.
# The Parable of the Sower (Part 2)
We don't spend any time with the first category of those who are not saved because they never accepted the word of God at all. But we are concerned about the other two categories who accepted the word of God, who became Christians by the church's definition, who became believers, but only believed for a while and collapsed. Why did they collapse? The inability to stand the stress. They became Christians maybe because some preacher stood up on the platform and said, "You come to Jesus and you have peace and joy." They offered you a lollipop. Who doesn't want to accept a lollipop? That is, assuming you like sweets. And so, often preaching the gospel looks like a session of dishing out lollipops. That's not the way the Lord Jesus preached. He said to be a Christian is no easy thing. You've got to stand up under the stress. You've got to be able to stand the pressure.
The Gospels are very explicit. The apostle Paul, when he preached the gospel, never dished out lollipops. You need only look at Acts chapter 14 and verse 22 to see that. What does it read there? "We must enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation." Those are words of the gospel. You are going to enter God's kingdom, yes, but through much tribulation. I thank God for preachers who are honest with me. I've had enough of people dishing out lollipops. And then when everything goes wrong, you say, "Hey, what happened to me? How come when I become a Christian, everything goes wrong?" That's right. When you become a Christian, you will start discovering that everything in the world starts getting you down. Everything starts going wrong. And then you know that you're a Christian. That's the way you know. If you thought everything is going to be sweet for you, then you haven't understood yet. "We must enter the kingdom of God," the apostle Paul tells them, "through much tribulation." Acts 14:22.
And so here the Lord Jesus says exactly the same thing. He says this: that when that seed is sown, what happens is three things come. The first word in Matthew chapter 13 and verse 21 is the word "tribulation." The second word is "persecution." And the third word appears in Luke chapter 8, verse 13 — the word "temptation." And we need to look at all these three words. The first word: tribulation. The second word: persecution. The third word: temptation. Now these are all three things that are going to put an enormous stress upon you, tremendous pressure.
And in fact, that's exactly what the first word means. The Greek word "tribulation" — a long mouthful of a word in English — simply comes from a word which means "pressure." To be in tribulation means to be under pressure. That's all it means. And then — well, that's all it means in terms of words. It doesn't mean all that much in words. But in life, to be under pressure means a lot. And so we find here that this is in fact the word which was used in Acts chapter 14, verse 22: "We must enter into the kingdom of God through much tribulation." That is, you are going to be under a lot of pressure all the time. I'm sure that those who are baptized have already begun to discover some pressure, right? If you haven't discovered the pressure, then maybe it will be coming along soon. If it doesn't come along soon, then I'm going to worry for you whether you know what it is to be a Christian at all. You are going to be under pressure. That's what the word tribulation means.
But what is the attitude of a true Christian? Romans 5:3. And what does the apostle Paul say in Romans 5:3? Well, those are words that you need to bear in mind if you're going to be a true Christian. More than that, the apostle Paul says — now notice these words — "We rejoice in our suffering." Now the word translated "suffering" is in fact the same Greek word, tribulation. The same Greek word of pressure. "We rejoice in being under pressure." Now how does that compare with your thinking? Today we have a church full of people who became Christians because they came to collect lollipops. They came to have a good time. No wonder this kind of Christian is going to grumble as soon as the pressure comes on. As soon as the weight begins to crush upon them. They say, "Hey, what's going on? What's going on?" Well, what's going on is that you became a Christian. And if any preacher didn't tell you that the moment you became a Christian you're going to be under pressure, then that preacher should not be preaching the gospel. He's not fit to preach the gospel.
I have so much trouble given to me by evangelists who go out there trying to collect votes to get decisions. And these people, when they got the decisions, that's the end of it. That's the end of their concern for the poor fellow who made a decision. And then that's where the pastors have to take over and try to sort out the mess. And then what happens? People come to me and say, "Why? Why? What's going on? Why everything's gone wrong? My father got sick, my mother got financial trouble, the business is going bad, and I myself, I've got problems here and there. What's going on? I became a Christian. God is supposed to give me a lollipop." God never promised you any lollipop. Look at the Bible. If you knew what it is to be a Christian, you rejoice with the apostle Paul. "We rejoice." He says, "More than that, we rejoice in our tribulation." You say, "What's the matter with Paul? Is he some kind of a nut? Is he some kind of guy who is just looking for trouble?" No. But he understands what the Christian life is about. It is to be under pressure all the time. I hope you bear that in mind. And I say that again for those returning to Hong Kong: remember that. You were called to suffer.
Now, I hope you have understood it, at least in this church. When you go back to Hong Kong, you will be under pressure, I tell you. And then you're going to thank God for that pressure. You're going to learn to say with the apostle Paul, "I rejoice. We rejoice in our suffering, in our pressure that we have to bear."
And the second word here is persecution. You won't be much of a Christian if you haven't endured some persecution. And sooner or later, you're going to get it. And the worst to get it from is to get it from fellow Christians. And I say that again to you, for those of you going back to Hong Kong. Don't be so upset when those who persecute you most turn out to be fellow Christians. Always remember, as I have constantly reminded you, that those who persecuted the Lord Jesus most were the religious people — the Pharisees, the most religious people of the Jews; the scribes, the theologians; and the chief priests, the religious leaders of that time. They are the ones who put Jesus to death. Bear that in mind.
John Wesley, mighty servant of God — all his life was persecuted by fellow Christians. Did you know that? It was not the non-Christians that persecuted John Wesley so much. He was persecuted by non-Christians too. But it was the Christians. First of all, he was thrown out of the Church of England, of which he was himself a member. He was not allowed to preach in any of the churches of England because he preached holiness, and the Church of England did not want to hear that. They threw him out. So John Wesley had to preach on the street because he was not allowed to preach at any church. But thanks be to God that through John Wesley the mighty revival came to England that left its mark on the history of England in a way that no other revival in England has ever affected the history of England. But John Wesley knew that he was going to be persecuted. He bore no grudge against those who persecuted him. He bore no hatred. And today the Church of England, of course, regrets most deeply what they did to Wesley. Now they are trying to get the Methodist Church back. But remember this very point: that it is those who serve the Lord, if you are faithful to the gospel, you are going to face persecution from fellow Christians as well as non-Christians. Sometimes you will wonder to yourself, "How come the whole world is my enemy?"
Athanasius, in the early church, that great servant of God in the fourth century — he was exiled seven times. And who threw him into exile? Fellow Christians. He was kicked out of his church. Only his church remained faithful to him. The whole church turned against him. But the day came when the tables turned, and Athanasius today is known as that great savior of the church — savior with a small "s," of course — saving the church from terrible heresy. But at that time he himself was charged with heresy.
So here we notice these things. First word then is pressure. Second word, persecution. And the apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 11: "You have seen," he says to Timothy, "my sufferings and my persecutions that I endured." And then he says in verse 12 of 2 Timothy chapter 3, the next verse: "Indeed, anyone who lives a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." You've got to suffer persecution. Don't think you will be an exception. But if you want to be an exception, then don't bother to be a Christian. When you become a Christian, understand: I'm going to suffer it. If you don't want to suffer it, then pack your bag and forget it. You're not going to be a Christian at all.
Now the third word that we see in Luke chapter 8, verse 13, is the word "temptation." The word temptation in Greek has two different types of meaning. The first: the word temptation means to be under test or trial. That is, it may be that God is testing you. And there you should not translate the word as temptation. It is testing. To be under God's testing. This word is used in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 12, in this sense of testing. 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 12, which I'll read to you now: "And this is what the apostle Peter said: If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." Here the word translated "reproached" — suffering reproach for the sake of Christ, being under testing in this way. But the word testing, being under pressure, being tried by God, tried in fire as it were, is very much a part of the Christian life. You are bound to be tested. And we shall see that again in a moment.
The second part of the meaning of this word temptation means to be tempted to sin. And here the sense is different. The sense is that Satan is behind this work. Of course in a sense he is behind all testings, in the sense of trying to get you to collapse, to turn away from God. But in this sense he is directly involved, not indirectly involved. He tempts you to sin, entices you to sin, shows you the beauty of sinning, tries to get you to sin. And this we see, for example, in Luke chapter 4, verse 13, where Satan tempts the Lord Jesus to sin, trying to bring him to fall.
Now all this we see then: that suffering is inseparable from the Christian life. And we see these three words that the Lord Jesus uses explaining why those sown upon rocky ground collapsed. Now I would like you to notice the parable again. In the parable, the suffering is compared to the sun. It is very important to understand that. He says when the sun came up, then those who were in rocky ground withered because they had no root and were not able to draw the moisture. Now think about it. The sun is compared here in the Lord's teaching to suffering. Now that's very significant. The sun can either destroy, or it can cause growth.
Now this is the reason why I said that this point is crucial to understanding the parable of the Lord's teaching. Now without the sun, no plant can grow. And the other thing you need to remember is that this sun is what is essential. In the one case, of the plants that brought forth fruit, it was what enabled them to bring forth a lot of fruit. But in the case of those that did not have root, it destroyed them. Tribulation then is like the sun. It's going to either make you deeper spiritually, or it will destroy you. Depending on you. Not upon the sun.
Now we will look at that also more fully in a moment. But first I would like you to look at the second category of those who believed and failed — that is, those sown among thorns. We remember already that the seed was not sown into the thorns. The thorns were not there at that time. The thorns only sprang up later and choked the seed. Now here too we see three things concerning the thorns, and particularly here we could turn to Mark, Mark chapter 4 and verse 19. And let me read this to you. Mark chapter 4 and verse 19. And this is what the Lord Jesus says concerning those sown in thorny ground. It says in verse 18: "And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word." Verse 19: "But the cares of the world" — now notice three things again — "the cares of the world, the delight in riches, and the desire for other things." Now notice that the Lord Jesus has used three words for suffering — persecution, stress — in connection with those on rocky ground. Now he uses three expressions in connection with those sown in thorny ground. That is: the cares of the world, the delight in riches, the desire for other things. All these three things will prove fatal to the Christian who gives ground to these things.
The cares of the world — the cares of this present age. Now ask yourself why these things would have any effect upon a Christian. You see, a person who does not want suffering is the kind of person who wants to enjoy life, so called. He wants to evade suffering. So basically the same thing applies here. If you don't want suffering, then you go and look for the delight of riches. You look for the pleasures of the world. That's the way to run away. So this second group is exactly the same as the first group. They run away from pressure. They want to find their escape, their refuge in the world. And they are worried in case they can't make it, in case they can't get from the world what they want.
Now you see, basically the same mentality is behind this group, put in a different way. Why does a Christian love money? Because money can take the pressure off his back, right? Money can help him to have a nicer car. Money can help him to have a nicer house. Money helps him to relieve the necessity of stress and suffering. After all, what is suffering? Suffering is to be under financial pressure. We don't want to be under financial pressure, and therefore you go for money. What is it? You don't want to have persecution. You want people to look up to you. Well, why should they look up to you? Only if you have lots of money. You can ride in a big car. You can live in style. People look up to you. They will not persecute you. What is more, if you have a lot of money, it is dangerous to persecute you. You can afford a lawyer. And the poor Christian cannot take you to court, but the rich guy — you accuse him, he takes you to court. He has got lots of lawyers. If you slander him or say something bad about him, you will be in trouble. Nobody dares to attack the rich. They dare to attack the poor. The poor are defenseless. The rich they dare not attack.
And then of course you have the desire for many things because you have the means to buy them. I mean, the poor guy has lots of desires but only limited means. You can only dream about a stereo cassette, but you have got no money to buy a stereo cassette. You can only look at it in the window. But the rich guy — because he has got money, he wants the world, because then he has the power to get whatever he wants. If he wants a holiday in Florida, he goes to a holiday in Florida. Can you afford a holiday in Florida? No, because you are not rich enough. So you can only look at it in the magazines. You look at the nice pictures of Florida, a sailing boat there, and you think, "Ah, I wonder what it feels like over there." Okay, you can only look from a distance. So you say to yourself, "Oh, I got to get some money. I got to make it good. Then I can go and enjoy myself." So this category is trying to run away from suffering as far as it can, seeking refuge in the world.
You see, that is why I said at the beginning: the whole difference is the difference between whether you understand the meaning of suffering and whether you are willing to accept it. You may understand, but you don't want to accept it. That also doesn't help much. And whether you are willing to accept it, like Paul — to rejoice in suffering. Now that is the difference between this group that survived and the group that didn't survive.
Now, here we come then to summing up concerning the meaning of suffering. The first thing I would like you to notice as we sum up is this: suffering for the Christian is utterly inevitable. It is like the sunshine. The sun shines not only upon the non-Christians, but it shines upon the Christians. It shines upon everyone. It is going to destroy the one; it is going to bring life to the other. Sunshine — those who failed, the plant, the seed that withered under the sun — it is not because only that plant got sunshine. The sun does not focus one ray only upon one point. The sun shines everywhere. If it shined upon this one that withered in the field, it also shined upon the others in the field that didn't wither. So it is no use for the one who fails to say, "I suffered more." You didn't suffer more than anyone else. Let me guarantee you: you never suffered one-tenth of anything that Paul suffered for Christ.
Notice the Christian that is weak — he grumbles every time something goes wrong. It is always, "Why is God doing this to me?" He is doing it to you because you need the sunshine. No plant grows without the sunshine. You are going to have to endure it. The seed that fell on hard ground also got the sunshine. Of course they did not have to worry about it because it did not last long enough to worry. The sun shines everywhere. And so in the same way in this life, there is no way to escape suffering and persecution. But you can escape it to some extent in the world, except that you run into another set of trouble. As everybody knows, the world is very deceptive. It seems to give you something good. It entangles you more deeply into it. And in the end you find that you are suffering also — suffering in different ways. In this life there is no refuge from suffering, at least not for long. The wise Christian bears that in mind.
He knows that the rich are the people who cannot sleep at night wondering whether they are going to get kidnapped and held up for ransom. Whether they are going to have their bank blown open. And whether their insurance company will collapse. Or maybe if not the insurance company, their stocks and shares will collapse and they will be broke. And whether this and whether that and the other thing — there is no end of it. And who is going to get what they have when they die. Who is going to inherit it. And whether the family will start fighting each other, and so on and so forth. And what is more, many of them by that time have already lost their health trying to get rich. As I shared with you that parable: some people spend all their health getting wealth, and then after having gotten their wealth, they have to use all their wealth to get their health back again. And so it goes on in life.
But the second thing we need to understand is this: why we rejoice in suffering. If you are a wise Christian, it is because you know that suffering destroys sin in your life. And it does destroy sin in your life. We read that in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 1: "He that has suffered has ceased from sin." I have many times mentioned that verse to you in Bible studies. It is so important to understand. Suffering has a way of cutting the roots of sin. Suffering has a way of destroying the weeds in your life right at the roots, if you let it. If you let those roots get exposed to the sun. Suffering has a way of purifying your life. 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 6 and 7: that the trial of your faith, like gold tested in fire, becomes ever purer. Or in terms of this parable, it means that as the sun grows hotter, the plant drives its roots further down. The quality of its spiritual life increases, because it knows it has to go further down to draw the moisture that it needs.
But certainly too, suffering is in fact a token of God's love. Sunshine is so beautiful. That sunshine that caused the plants to grow — why does it destroy the one that has no roots? If you have roots, that plant that has roots — it's just basking in the sunshine. It enjoys it. It's wonderful. It's growing because of the sunshine. It expresses God's love for us. We find that in Hebrews chapter 10, for example. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 10, it tells us that through suffering and discipline we learn, we share in God's holiness. Did you know that? Holiness is only possible through suffering. It is God bringing suffering in order that we may share his holiness. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 10 tells us. So that we become like him. And the whole passage in Hebrews chapter 10, verses 3 to 11, is a passage concerning the fact that God disciplines us because he loves us. "I discipline my child because I love my child." The discipline is the expression of my love and my concern. I don't go and discipline my neighbor's child. If that neighbor's child is doing something bad, tearing the neighbor's house down — it's not my responsibility. I don't go and say, "Why are you tearing your house down?" That's his business. If the parent doesn't stop them, what should I be doing? But I'm concerned about my child. And if my child does that, I will discipline the child. It will hurt the child. It hurts me. But suffering is the expression of that love.
But more than that, we are called into the fellowship of his suffering. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21: "We have been called to it." What did you think? Something strange happening to you? 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 9 says the same thing. And the Lord Jesus said the same words too: "If any man follow me, let him take up his cross and follow me." You want to follow Jesus? You walk behind him. He carries his cross there. You carry your cross. You follow with him. The fellowship of his suffering. That is so important to understand.
And that means several things. It means that when you are suffering, you are seen to be his disciple. You walk in his steps. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21: "He left an example for us, that we follow in his steps." Therefore when you are suffering, you know that you are a disciple. The evidence of it. And secondly, it shows that we honor Christ in our body. Paul, the apostle Paul, glories in his suffering. And he says now, "It is my desire, Philippians chapter 1, verse 20, that Christ will be glorified in my body, whether by life or by death." What kind — where do we find such Christians today? Where do we find them? They only want life, not death. Paul says, "I am happy to die." He has no fear of death, because Christ will be glorified in my death. We saw already how he pressed towards Jerusalem when others tried to stop him. He was never afraid to die. He was going to glorify God in his suffering.
And then thirdly, we find that it is only in suffering that you will know Jesus at the deepest level. There is one kind of Christian, so rare today, that you fellowship with and you can fellowship with them at the deepest level. You know why? Because they know Jesus. How do they know Jesus? You know where? In the school of suffering. A Christian who has suffered has a depth that no other kind of Christian has. They have depth. They know Jesus — not just say "I believe in Jesus." They know Jesus at the deepest level. This kind of Christian is rare today.
If one day you have the privilege of meeting some of the brothers and sisters in China, you will know what I mean. The kind of person who comes out of the hard labor camps — you have met the kind of person with a different quality of Christian. It is not your Sunday outing Christian. Not the kind of Christian that goes to picnics. It is the kind of Christian who has come through hard labor camps, suffering, beatings, interrogations. There is a different quality about this kind of person. They know Jesus in a special kind of way. This is what Paul longed for. He says, "You want to know Jesus? I tell you where you will know Jesus. It is in the place of suffering." You don't want suffering? You won't know Jesus. You won't know Jesus by going to a seminary and studying there. That is not the place to get to know Jesus. That is the place to get academic knowledge. That is the place to get academic qualification. But that is not the place to know Jesus.
Nobody coming out of a seminary knows Jesus in the way that Paul knows Jesus, in the way that we are talking about. No one from a seminary will ever know Jesus like a Chinese brother or sister who has never even seen the inside of a senior middle school but who has sat in a prison camp for the Lord Jesus. I tell you, you talk to these two people and you will talk to two worlds apart. They are two entirely different types. I talk to both types. I know exactly what's different. The one knows Jesus. The other one only has knowledge in the head. Oh, that's a vast difference.
What do you want to know? If you want to know more theology, there are Christian bookshops there — just grab hold of a book and read it. You want to read through a book of systematic theology, go and read it. You won't know Jesus any better though, as a result of that. Knowing Jesus is in the school of suffering. In the fellowship of his suffering. That is why, in Philippians chapter 3, verse 10, the apostle Paul says, "That I may know him and the fellowship of his suffering." He puts that all together in one sentence. Why? Because that's inseparable. You want to know him? You will know him in the fellowship of his suffering. That's where he comes closest to you. That's where you need him most. And that's when he will talk most clearly to you.
And I speak of this from experience. Those three years in China, when I faced hunger and a small measure of persecution — that was the time when I walked in the sweetest, closest fellowship with the Lord Jesus. It was under that pressure, in the fellowship of suffering, that I most came to know him. Much more valuable than seminary, than the faculty of divinity, and all this kind of stuff. Fellowship of suffering. I hope that all this helps you to understand the meaning of suffering — the value and preciousness of suffering. You will never find Jesus more close to you than when you are in suffering. But that is if you put your root down. Suffering can drive you away from the Lord, as it happens with these two other categories. Or it draws you closer to God. Depending on you. The condition of your heart. If you have suffering, praise God for it, and say, "Now is my opportunity to know him." Draw very close to him.
And so I say again, particularly those returning to Hong Kong: you are going to have a hard time in both of these ways. The world is going to be most attractive to you and tempt you to say, "Put away the hardship of being a Christian. Come away to our side." Or if you refuse, you will be put under heavy pressure. Stand firm in the Lord. And then you will discover that standing with you, the Lord Jesus is standing there, fellowshiping with you. Then you will know the sweetness of fellowship. You will never know how close Jesus is to you until that moment. You will say, "Lord, I never knew that you were right beside me. You are right there with me all the time." In all your sufferings, you will find that he suffers with you.
Finally, there is one category of suffering that I dare not even mention, because this category of suffering is reserved only for the mighty ones of God, the chosen vessels of God. It is the privilege of suffering, reserved only for those whom God has chosen. For most of us, we are not even qualified. Not even qualified. You know, when God chose the apostle Paul, this is what he said in Acts chapter 9, verses 15 and 16: "He is a chosen instrument of mine. And I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name's sake." You want to be a chosen instrument? That's it. I hear many people say, "God, it's not fair. God chose Paul." You know what he chose Paul for? That he may suffer great things. You want to suffer great things? You might be the next Paul. You might be. Until then, don't be so sure of it. The other thing is, if he chooses you, then you are going to have the weight of a very heavy cross upon you. Paul was the kind of person who gloried in tribulation. God chose him and said, "I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name's sake."
I remember Wang Mingdao. Before he went, he said, "I am not worthy to suffer for Christ." He constantly spoke about not being worthy to suffer for Christ. Maybe he had this very point in mind. To be called to suffer is a supreme privilege, not granted to everybody. The Chinese Christians know that. Wang Mingdao was given finally that privilege. Whether he is still alive or not, we do not know. But he at least understood. It was a privilege, not given to everybody.
Do you see it as a privilege? Is your eye open to understand the meaning of suffering? If it is, then you are going to be among those who not only bring forth fruit, but bring forth maybe thirtyfold, maybe sixtyfold, and perhaps even a hundredfold.
Let us be quiet before God in prayer.