The secret of positive results (with discussion)
Matthew 13:18-23
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 “Hear then the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
This transcript has been automatically generated
So the reading is from Matthew 13, which can be found on page 987 in your church Bibles.
Matthew 13, beginning at verse 18.
Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
As for what was sown on rocky ground, This is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another 60, and in another 30.
Thank you, Lucy, very much for reading for us. Please keep your Bibles open. If you’ve shut them already, it’s page 986. And if you haven’t already turned your mobile phone onto silent, now is your opportunity. While you’re doing that, let me just say I know what you’re thinking.
I wasn’t expecting this mic either. The only thing that’s reassuring me is that I can’t see how silly I look. You’ll just have to put up with that. Someone else who doesn’t seem to be able to see how silly he looks: Donald Trump. Donald Trump was in the news again this week for various things.
One thing was that he— was the allegation that he falsely reassured people about the profitability of a particular marketing company, and investors apparently then went on to lose hundreds of pounds, in one case thousands of pounds. Spent and a yield of only $38.
Now, whether the allegations prove true or not, we are understandably concerned, aren’t we, when we hear of potential investments that promise loads but deliver little? We’re anxious about those kinds of things. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see where investments were unwise. It’s easy to call out bad investments when it’s too late, isn’t it? It’s like announcing that it’s going to rain when the ground is already wet.
But what if we knew beforehand that a substantial sum was going to go missing?
There’s a nice disclaimer on those adverts that you get on the Tube or in City AM, those investment adverts where in the tiny small print they say, investment value may go up or down. And if you’re wise, you’ll look out for that. But what if you saw an investment opportunity that announced to you, we lose 3 out of every £4 invested in this fund? You’re not going to invest in that, are you?
Well, today Jesus is calling for our investment, but he isn’t simply interested in our money. He’s interested in our whole lives. And not just to throw a bit of money his way, but to commit our lives to the cause of his gospel. And tonight’s passage presents remarkable returns alongside shocking losses. 3 out of 4 of the soils that we’re going to look at yield no fruit.
But they aren’t smuggled away in the small print. They’re presented as headlines, both of them. The, the losses alongside the returns, because Jesus knows that our expectations here matter. And even as those of us who are familiar with this parable, I suspect that lots of us have still got this wrong. It’s possible for us to stop short and think that we have grasped this parable long before we have.
We may be so dangerously familiar with this that we are obliviously close to closing down our investment, selling up the farm and giving up on sowing. Those of us who are over-familiar with this parable are in danger of being unfruitful in Jesus’ kingdom. So we need to pay attention, don’t we? As Jesus says earlier on in the chapter, he who has ears let him hear. And so verse 18, hear then the parable of the sower.
Parables, as lots of us will know, are stories with a point. They’re not quite allegories— that is, you can’t necessarily map every single detail onto something in real life, but there is some particular lesson that the story is teaching. And this one is probably one of the most famous parables that Jesus told. It’s a parable that has often been called the Parable of the Soils because of what comes next. But it’s interesting, Matthew calls it the Parable of the Sower.
It’s the Parable of the Sower. And so we’re watching this sower chucking out grain everywhere, and I mean everywhere. And so he’s wandered into this field and he’s chucking out on the path and over on those rocks— for some reason they’re in the middle of the field— and then over by the hedge behind the thorns. And so some of it in the field, you know, he seems to know a little bit about what he needs to do. He’s some kind of grain sprinkler, indiscriminate you might say.
And if that was all we had, I think we’d be left confused as to why Jesus told this story. If that was all we had, you could understand why people would be left in the dark. But as we saw last week, parables have that effect. They can leave us puzzled, in the dark, unless we come to Jesus for more understanding and find ourselves exposed to the treasure that he has for us here. Treasure that we were told last week Old Testament prophets longed to hear.
So while you’re plucking grains out of your hair, let’s come to Jesus and hear his explanation of the parable. And it’s all about where the grains land. We’re on to point 1. Or the kind of sub-point 1 if you’re using the handout on the inside of the sheet you were given by the door. Soil number 1, on the path.
And verse 4 has told us that some seeds fell along the path and the birds came and devoured them. Now what does he mean? Well, verse 19, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. Here’s the person who hears a Bible talk, nodding along the way through, all the way through, but by the end of the talk, the only thing they can remember is the joke at the beginning.
And by tomorrow, they can barely remember coming. The evil one has snatched away what has been sown. And as we’ve been working through this section of Matthew for the past few weeks, we’ve seen that played out in Jesus’ audience. They’ve just not understood Jesus. They’ve refused to accept what he said, and Jesus has consistently warned them about the consequences of that.
Even last week in verse 12, we were told that what little he has— from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. But we see this enacted in terrifying parable here. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.
When Jesus says someone doesn’t understand it, he doesn’t mean someone who mishears, someone who’s coming with innocence and is faced with Jesus’ palm, talk to the hand. No. In fact, as we’ve been seeing all evening, God is a God who’s revealed himself. Now we’re talking about those who have themselves rejected what he said. They’re— they’ve got their palm out to Jesus.
Verse 15 above talks about those who have grown dull, who have closed their eyes, those who have rejected Jesus. And who have in return had what little they had taken away. The evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. That’s soil 1. And next, soil 2, on rocky ground.
And verse 5 from the parable tells us, other seeds fell on rocky grounds where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away. Verse 20 gives us the explanation. Verse 20: As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.
Here’s the one who responds enthusiastically. Now they hear of Jesus and instantly they’re drawn to him. Initially they show all the signs of being an earnest follower of Jesus. Indeed, they receive the word with joy, we’re told. Here is the excited disciple, the one who’s really going for it.
Oh, how they’re thrilled by Jesus! But There’s no depth here. A little kickback, a few snide comments in the classroom, and maybe they start to question this newfound faith. Harder pushback, maybe their job on the line, and they’re ready to give up. Tribulation or persecution— well, what would happen then?
It could be the subtle hostility that emerges in the office when you’re known for being a Christian. It could be the full force of violent, aggressive opposition that some of us only hear about in the news. But whatever form it takes, immediately he falls away. In the end, he prefers a comfortable life to some of the hardships that come with following Jesus. I guess many of us will know those who started out as Christians but quickly gave up when it got hard.
That’s the second soil. I then saw 3 among thorns. At verse 7 of the parable, other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Now what does it mean? Verse 22, as for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
It’s not hard to picture a Christian a few years on, and that initial flurry of excitement, maybe that’s started to die down a bit. Now the everyday draw of success, worldly success, beats at the door of his heart. Don’t you want a bit more money? Don’t you want a bit more prestige? Don’t you want a bit more comfortable life for your family?
Don’t you want a bigger house? It’s not wrong to want these things, is it? It’s not wrong. Might make church a bit harder if you prioritise them. It might squeeze your time a bit.
It might make it harder to invest in relationships. It might make it harder to introduce friends to Jesus. It’s not wrong though, is it?
It’s not the collapse of a single moment, but the gradual surrender of a thousand decisions, and the word proves unfruitful.
The language of verse 22 is so helpful, isn’t it? The cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches are the lies that riches tell, promising, promising satisfaction happiness, contentment, but not delivering. No, instead, actually what they do is choke the words. Arms outstretched, fingers like a vice, the stranglehold of the world and its riches squeezing the throat until the word has no breath and it proves unfruitful.
3 soils, 3 failures. By the end of the first 3, we’re looking at no fruit, and it would be easy to think that this seed is rubbish, wouldn’t it? After all, they all hear the word. Did you spot that? Every one of them.
Verse 19, when anyone hears the word. Verse 20, this is the one who hears the word. Or verse 22, this is the one who hears the word. Now these aren’t those who remain unreached. These are the ones who hear it but who prove unfruitful.
It would be easy to think this seed is rubbish. If it weren’t for the soil that yields. Look down at verse 23 with me, would you? As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields— in one case a hundredfold, in another 60, and in another 30.
It turns out this seed can produce a harvest, and what a harvest! As high as 100-fold. If you’re a farmer, you might be a bit more used to that kind of return. I got in touch with a farmer up by my parents this week to find out what a normal yield would be, and unfortunately he gave his answer in pounds and hundredweights and acres, which didn’t help me out a lot. I’m not that familiar with imperial.
Me and my dad did a bit of work to translate it, and we worked out that it was something like the 30-fold or 60-fold yield depending which field he was using. A grain is a great illustration, isn’t it? Because it multiplies so effectively. For some, 30. For others, even as high as 100.
In fact, by next week we’ll see that the word has a supernatural fruitfulness. And in every circumstance, you’re not questioning the seed anymore, are you? You may lose plenty of seed. But you’ll get plenty of fruit in the end.
What is that fruit? It could be more word being scattered, 100 times as much teaching of the gospel as at the start. But I think in the context of the chapter as a whole, it makes much more sense for the fruit to be more people becoming Christians. Even while the first 3 soils yield no fruit, the good soil goes on to produce a massive harvest. The kingdom grows.
This is good seed which in good soil produces a massive harvest.
And it’s a subtle distinction, isn’t it, from the other soils? It’s not that different. Like all of the others, the good soil hears the words, but this time, notice in verse 23 hears the word and understands it. He belongs to that group who realises he needs understanding and who realises that the only way he’ll get it is by coming to Jesus to listen, by approaching Jesus when he doesn’t understand and seeking after more. As verse 12 told us last week, to the one who has, more will be given, and he’ll have an abundance.
It’s the Christian who comes and thinks and chews and talks over what he’s been hearing about in this book. The Christian who isn’t satisfied with a superficial understanding but who wants to get more. The Christian who listens to what this says and prays heartfelt pleas for understanding and who proves then to be fruitful.
And at this point, I wonder what you’re thinking, what implications that you are thinking from this. Aren’t lots of us thinking, how am I hearing? How am I hearing? Which of these soils am I? And there’s some room for that.
Don Carson, the New Testament scholar, is really helpful when he says, the interpretation therefore demands that each person look to himself as to how he hears the message. Are we hearing like the path or the rocks? Or are we letting weeds creep in and choke? Maybe for most of us we’d happily say we’re not the seed on the path, that we’ve understood. Most of you are still awake, so we’re doing all right.
Someone just give Michael a nudge.
But the seed on the rocky path, the seed susceptible to persecution— how would we fare if the temperature were turned up at work? Would we still side with Jesus if the opposition mounted. Many of us will have heard this week of the Christian lady in Pakistan who has just been acquitted after 8 years on death row for blasphemy. And the violent protests have ensued, and the demand has been for her to return to death row. One of our trainees told me that one of his cousins in Nigeria was killed this week for being a Christian.
Not 2,000 years ago and not 500 years ago. This week. This sort of thing is happening right now. And I’m prompted to ask, am I hearing in such a way that I’d be ready to face persecution like this? Or have I got the kind of fair-weather Christianity that falls away as soon as the persecution hots up?
Have I got the kind of hearing that sinks deep roots Or am I just waiting to be scorched? Or the seeds sown among the thorns, choked by the cares of the world. Have I allowed the tentacles of wealth to wrap around my throat? Which plant am I feeding, the world or the Word?
I’m humbled by students who get up early in the morning to spend an hour poring over the Scriptures, gripped by Jesus’ words. I’m encouraged by members of small groups who come straight from work to our small group Bible studies and then head straight back to work because they’ve got so much work to do but want to carve out that time to listen carefully, to understand what God is saying. There’s lots of things that we could do applying down that line— how am I hearing— but we would be falling short of Jesus’ intention If we were only to ask that question. I said earlier, didn’t I, that some of us are so familiar with this parable that we are in danger of being unfruitful. And I say that if the only way we think about this parable is, how am I hearing?
Now, Jesus has not simply told us this parable to shape how we listen. Many of us will have usefully applied the parable of the sower in that way. I know lots of us studied Mark a few weeks ago, or possibly even last week, and looked at this passage. A good thing to think about. But Matthew has arranged his material very carefully to make sure that we go further.
Flick over the page and have a look at verse 52. At the end of this chapter of teaching, Jesus describes those who understand. Verse 52, a scribe who’s been trained for the kingdom of heaven— that’s someone who’s understood is like a master of the house who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old. And we’ll think more about these verses in a few weeks. But can you see here, if we’re those who hear and understand, we are those who will bring out of our treasure what is new and what is old— literally thrust out, cast out the treasure that we’ve heard.
We’re not just receivers, We’re those who share.
Indeed, as we were reminded earlier on in our meeting, the Gospel of Matthew finishes with Jesus’ commands to go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that I’ve commanded you. This whole account is written to thrust us out to the nations with the good news of Jesus.
But what will that be like?
Well, this sermon series in Matthew has painted the picture of a kingdom that is advancing forcefully but constantly violently opposed. And as Jesus starts this chapter of teaching, just flip back to the parable of the sower. As he starts this whole chapter of teaching, he paints the picture of what it’s going to be like by telling us the parable of the sower. This grain sprinkler throwing seed everywhere, how will Jesus’ kingdom advance? And what is it going to look like as the gospel goes out across this country and across the world?
Tomorrow night at the guest event, what kind of response are we expecting? Over the next 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, as we the church continue to engage in our task of proclaiming the gospel, what are we expecting?
Well, for some it’s going to be like soil number 1. It seems like it’s just bounced straight off. We’ll be praying away and sending out missionaries and pouring our money into gospel projects, and though people hear, they may as well be wearing earplugs. The evil one will come and steal what was sown.
Are we ready for that?
For others, it will be like soil 2. They start going and then give up. Churches planted and swelling and then suddenly, without warning, shrinking to nothing. And if we’re not ready for it, we’ll think that we got the message wrong. We’ll wonder if we need to tinker with the seed.
And yet for others, seed 3, they’ll allow the world to creep in, and we’ll see established saints throttled by the lies of wealth.
And if we’re not ready for it, we’ll be tempted to doubt the seed. We’ll think, this word doesn’t work. Christ’s kingdom isn’t advancing. We’ve got something wrong.
Christian, don’t let your gaze be fixed on barren fields. This seed is bearing fruit. It was true in Matthew’s day. The nation of Israel was a barren field, a path from which the evil one snatched so much of what Jesus sowed. A crowd that sprung up and cheered for Jesus And then, scorched by the sun, they crucified him days later.
Matthew and his readers were all too familiar with barren fields, but Jesus is King and his seed is bearing fruit. Read the book of Acts later and see how quickly and fruitfully it spread across the Mediterranean. Read the history books and see how quickly and fruitfully it spread across the world.
And so also in our day. And perhaps we find our land riddled with paths and rocks and thorns. But don’t let your gaze be captured by barren fields. This seed is bearing fruit. Look again to Nigeria, to the saints who are persisting in the midst of scorching persecution.
And where their churches are packed with millions of believers. Look to China, where the church has grown from a largely underground enterprise last century to perhaps 70 million believers. Look to the city here, where in God’s kindness there are whole clusters of businessmen and women recognising the deceitfulness of riches and pursuing instead the immeasurable worth of Christ. Come tomorrow and hear how the word was sown in Ziggy, a Jewish man who had every reason to hate Christians, but who was captured by the person of Jesus, who heard the word and understood and is bearing fruit.
The gospel is not just sown, in glorious fields of fruitfulness, but also in fields of thorns. Now, we can’t be fussy about our sowing and sow only where there is guaranteed fruit. It isn’t what Jesus expected. It isn’t how Jesus sowed. We don’t have the luxury of knowing which fields populate the 21st century, only that there are plenty of tough barren soils out there.
And yet Jesus is ruling, and his seed is good, it’s fruitful, and it will yield a harvest. Christian, don’t let your gaze be captured by barren fields. Expect them, sure, but remember this: this seed is bearing fruit.
Are we persuaded that this seed is good? Will we be persuaded that this seed is good when it gets the response of paths and rocks and thorns? Are we ready for it? Are we ready for all of those responses, and not just the flat rejection that perhaps we’re used to, but that promising start that seems to be going well and then falls away? Are we ready for years of faithful sowing and the result of someone falling away?
And are we ready for this seed to yield its harvest? Not the pessimistic expectation of universal failure, no, the real hope of a harvest. Are we persuaded that this seed is good?
Are we persuaded that this seed is good? This seed that is swallowed by birds and scorched by the sun and, and smothered by weeds is still the seed that we’re to sow. I mustn’t try and engineer a seed that yields a perfect response in every occasion. That’s not the gospel anymore.
Seed that grows in every soil. Is not a saving gospel. It is a weed that is quite unknown to Jesus’ lips. But the word of Christ, the King, this word of his, fruitless in some soils, will nonetheless grow.
It will bear fruit and yield. In one case, 100-fold. In another, 60. And in another, 30.
Here in the headlines, the losses and the remarkable returns, both of them. You won’t find adverts like this on the Tube. It just doesn’t draw the investment, does it? 3 soils out of 4. It’s pretty bad form, isn’t it?
But a hundredfold yield, even 30. What a return!
And we need to expect both if we’re going to keep going in our investments. We’re going to need to expect both if we will keep pouring our lives into being word sprinklers wherever we have been put, with this word, this fruitful seed, this word of the kingdom.
Shall I lead us in praying that we would do just that?
Living Lord God, we praise you that you have given us such a wonderful word.
We praise you that it will yield a harvest. And so we pray, would you persuade us of that if we’re not already? And would you convince us of it so that we would have right expectations of your gospel and so that we would be those who pour our lives into being word sprinklers, in the world. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Right, let’s— now this is great, isn’t it? So it’s a chance— what we’ve been encouraged to do is hear the Word of God, and this is a chance just for us to reflect on what God has been saying to us, not just this evening but over the last couple of weeks. So this is Ruth-Ann sitting on the end here. This is Rhiannon Currie sitting in the middle, and this is Will, and, uh, and I’m me. So that’s, that’s what we’re gonna do.
And we’ve not got enough stools for me to have a stool as well, which is a shame, isn’t it? There we go. So Will, just tell us, in terms of the kind of— we’ve been looking for several weeks now at Jesus’ teaching on his kingdom. What are some of the things that you’ve been thinking about and learning about from the Lord Jesus. We’re going to talk to you first, won’t we, Rhiannon?
Yeah, yeah. I have just been really struck by, um, from what we’ve been learning this evening particularly, that this is all about Jesus. Um, and that has, um, I guess like many of you, I’ve been a Christian for quite a long time, and it’s really made me think about whether this Jesus that Matthew presents is the Jesus that I’m trusting in. And actually, um, something that from a few weeks ago that has really encouraged me is the idea that Jesus gives us rest if we come to him, but actually how important it is that we continue to come to him as, as Christians, that we are those who humbly, um, are approaching him and who, um, are, uh, spending time in his word. And, and he says, you know, we’ve— Mickey told us a few weeks ago that he says he’s the way that we get to know God.
And what an amazing privilege that is, that we live this side of Jesus, that we do know God because of him. And I suppose I’ve been thinking how that might work out in my life, that I might actually— spending time in the Bible should be much more of a priority than it is at the moment for me, and I’m sure for lots of us. And that actually, if I do want to know God, which I do, that coming to Jesus regularly and just being really humble in approaching him is going to be key to that. That’s where we should be starting. Thank you.
And in tonight’s parable, I mean, the centrality of the word in terms of fruit is absolutely key, isn’t it? Rhiannon, did you have any reflections on that same sort of idea? Yes. Sorry, Ruth-Ann. Um, I was thinking quite similar, and just, um, similarly, just trying to keep going with the sort of concrete implications out of that.
I think, um, lots of us probably do, um, try and look at our Bibles most days and try and pray and talk to God. And actually, that’s certainly something I’ve been trying to do. But, um, I thought this section of Matthew and tonight’s passage as well, this particularly, um, evoked in me, um, a thought that I probably should be a bit more humble, actually. So it’s been this extraordinary picture of the kingdom pushing forward, um, but of this Jesus at the centre of it who doesn’t break a bruised reed or blow out a burning wick. He’s the King who gives wisdom to the simple, the unlearned, and keeps it from the wise in their own minds.
And there’s really no reason, like I don’t— I pray that I would end up the good soil on that final day, but there’s not something particular about me that has put me in that category. And so, yeah, I’ve just been pondering whether actually a big implication for me would be humility at Jesus’ words, which I think would work out in how I pray day by day, what I pray for, the sort of understanding I pray for, my expectation as I come to his word, much less of a getting through chapters and chapters and chapters and much more of a, can you teach me, Jesus? And I know I’ve done that lots of times in my life, but coming back to that and remembering that. I think has been really striking for me. Will, do you want to add anything on this area before we move on to the next?
Yes, I suppose just, um, the element that we can just trust Jesus’ sovereignty as he advances his kingdom. So as we talk about, um, sort of bringing the treasure out of our household, that sort of image, that we can trust that Jesus is the one who is advancing his kingdom. So we don’t need to sort of worry about whether the part I play will be particularly influential. We can just trust that he is doing that. Very striking, wasn’t it?
Last week Mickey talked about, you know, that probably tens of thousands of people gathered to hear Jesus, but just a tiny number come into that house to hear the parables explained. And then you think of the, the fruit that came from the tiny number. It’s remarkable, isn’t it? So, Will, should we move on to that? I mean, what have you been reflecting on in terms of the mission of the Lord Jesus as you’ve been listening?
Yeah, so I think I’ve been— it’s hard, it’s sort of unavoidable to miss the sort of the maths of the 4th soil and how fruitful the advance of Jesus’ kingdom is and that. But I think it’s very easy then to jump to the sort of obvious implication we know which we should be encouraged to prayerfully sort of share the word. But then, so I think it’s easy to go there and just sort of stop there, but then I think when I look back at sort of my own life and my attitudes and my actions, it’s sort of self-evident that I’m not that encouraged by that. So I’ve been trying to think So why is it that I don’t— why is it I’m not encouraged by that? So trying to sort of bring my mind up against the truth of what we’re being taught here and whether— and why is it that I don’t trust the seed is a good seed, that the Word of God is the way which Jesus is advancing his kingdom?
Why don’t I trust that Jesus is the one who is in charge? There’s all sorts of reasons for that. And then trying to look at, well, what is so good about the good seed? Why is that so good? Where’s the seed that, um, you know, by, by Jesus’ power, he does open our eyes by it?
And we can sort of look at that in our own lives. Um, and it’s the seed, uh, yeah, and, um, and we can sort of see how good it is that Jesus is the one who is in control and building his kingdom. So we can sort of try and preach those truths to ourselves. And persuade us that this is how the kingdom is being advanced. And I mean, I suppose we could all come up with lots of examples of, you know, soils 1 to 3, that sort of thing, sort of from experience.
And you must have examples of soils 4 in your longer experience. Thank you for that, Will. Thank you, Will. Let’s move to Ruth-Ann, shall we, first. Say, Ruth-Ann, have you got any reflections in terms— I’m very happy to come back there, Will, in a moment.
I think what Will’s saying is really helpful, and actually the way Tim put it I thought was really helpful. And just as I listened, it was making me think of my dad. And so the big implication I think I’m trying to spell out is that I think this parable has explanatory power which would help us keep going for a lifetime in ministry. So my dad was basically a pioneer minister, essentially an evangelist in a really hard part of the south of Ireland. And actually, I— he must have just really known this, because when I think of the people he shared the gospel with year in, year out, there was the one or two who became Christians, and that’s who we should look at and really remember that it’s really worth it.
I think of one guy we visited every Christmas who then went into prison ministry and himself saw people become Christians. And yet there were so many people who— the neighbours who just wouldn’t they wouldn’t come round again because they’d been told the gospel and they didn’t want to hear it again. Or the people who looked so exciting and we thought, finally someone else wants to be a Christian, and they didn’t stick it out. So I think he must have really got this, and I wondered if we really meditated on it, prayed it through, kept praying that we’d get it, if it would have a power to keep us going in the encouragements and also some of the discouragements. I think Tim was really helpful on that.
And there’s so much— I thought that’s extremely helpful. I mean, just having, you know, knocked around St. Helen’s for 30 or 40 years, it, it is extraordinary, you know, what has happened over the last 30 or 40 years. There are one or two people who’ve been knocking around for this long here tonight. But if you come to London in the 1980s, as some of us did, where would you have gone to hear clear Bible teaching? Really, just literally a handful of churches.
You come to central London now, there are 20, 30, maybe even 40 places where you would hear clear Bible talk, just in terms of faithful spreading of the word and advance. And in our own little case here with the Chinese work, you know, I think 15 years ago there were 3 Chinese believers, maybe 5, in St. Helen’s. I mean, you come here on a Sunday morning now And you just look at the number of Asian believers there are here and the way it’s just grown. It is phenomenal. We baptised 2 people from a Muslim background last Sunday morning.
It was wonderful. And I think the, the work amongst Muslim background people at St Helen’s is where the Chinese work was 15 years ago. And it made me think, wow, if I’m still around in 15 years’ time, you know, wouldn’t it be marvellous if we had like a third of the congregation on a Sunday morning from Muslim backgrounds? And the Lord, it’s just, you keep sticking at it and spreading in this widespread way and believing what Jesus says, it’s amazing what happens. And such helpful and specific implications to have our perspective shifted in line with the parable.
Like, I think lots of us are trying to talk to our friends about Jesus. I think that’s something that’s true of lots of people at the 6 PM. I think the danger is we’re not going to keep going because it’s hard. So just really helpful to have such a specific implication. It was very helpful.
I mean, I just had to turn to my neighbour and, and he said, this has really challenged me in terms of indiscriminate spreading of the word, which is right. You know, I self-select— or self-select, I don’t self-select— I select who I’m gonna— Rhiannon, did you have anything to chip in? I was only going to say sort of how, um, I, I love the language that Matthew uses, you know, the strongman that has held us and, and that actually Jesus has rescued us from Satan’s grip. And actually that we see our evangelism in those terms, that we are, um, that like Will said, that we, we don’t contribute anything, that Jesus actually is, is wrestling people for his kingdom back from, from Satan’s grip. That’s just It’s amazing, you know, that’s really struck me this week, and that we are part of his family when that happens, and what a privilege that is.
Thank you, thank you. Read the testimonies of the guys who are— who were baptised last Sunday morning, and it’s just written all over in terms of the release from slavery. Extraordinary. Um, you asked about specifics. I mean, it’s interesting, the carol service season is so interesting because we probably have 4,000 or 5,000 people who come through this building and just a handful who end up believing.
And I was thinking of one individual who left livid, furious— this is now 18 years ago— and then for one reason or another bumped into a Christian who showed him some more evidence. And then he was sitting up in the gallery at one of the talks that we did in March. He was there the next night, he was there the third night, and On the third night, he put his faith in the Lord Jesus, having been furious at the carol service. He’s now headmaster of a school up in Liverpool and is having this extraordinary fruitful ministry. I mean, it’s not just been a hundredfold for him.
Many, many, many more people are hearing the gospel. In amongst 4,000 people who came, many of whom just walked away— Satan had been at work— Pack, pack, pack. So it just helps, helps us keep going, doesn’t it? A final word, Will? A final word?
You don’t have to. You did say some really helpful stuff earlier about the good seed. Oh, talk to us about the good seed, Will.
I suppose, well, I suppose the implication there that if, if this is the seed which is growing the kingdom and by which Jesus is growing his kingdom, yeah, then we should listen and then we should value it and we should realise the treasure that we have in it. So you’re looking back to what we learned last week, that our eyes have been opened by it and our hearts made sort of undulled by it. So we should just value that more. Thank you, Will. That’s true.
What a difference that’ll make on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night when we come here really hungry. Rhiannon? Yeah, I just— Mickey said a few weeks ago that ours is a generation that knowingly rejects the evidence for Jesus, and actually that that should drive us, that is, you know, we can expect that, and that is what Jesus has told us to expect when we proclaim the truth about him. But actually he is the evidence, you know, there is ample evidence, and I think that’s really, as I’ve looked at that, has really grown my confidence confidence in, um, actually, we— all we can do is present Jesus and he will do the rest, and, and we can rely totally on that. Thank you.
Ruth Ann, I think just what we’ve just said in these last few minutes, that the seed is Jesus’ words and they are powerful, um, and that we can have right expectations that many will reject but many will come, um, to know him as Saviour. I think I just want to reflect that that’s going to have like hundreds of different applications as we go to after eights this evening, that we’ve just kind of started to meditate around the truths, but we could just keep having conversations and there’ll be 400 different specific applications from that. So I think that’s just what I’m reflecting. Thank you. Now, speaking of after eights, Will, you have news for us.
