God’s Word Is Seed
Mark 4:2-25:
And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his doctrine,
Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came in devoured it up.
And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth:
But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand, lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
The sower soweth the word.
And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.
And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?
For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad.
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: for with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus said that God’s Word is seed. Notice that Jesus said that it is the seed, not you, that produces thirty, sixty, or a hundredfold – or not at all if it is planted in bad soil. It is God's Word working in you that produces a harvest. If you don’t plant the Word, you will no more get a harvest than a farmer would get a harvest without planting seed.
It will help you greatly to realize that God’s Word, the Bible, is not a collection of philosophical ideas. It is not the definition of a system of religion. God’s Word itself is alive. Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). Hence, God’s words are not mere words; they contain inherent life and spiritual power. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick [alive], and powerful....” God spoke through Isaiah, “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11). (By the way, the conclusion that God’s Word is “returned” to Him when we speak it and that is why it doesn’t return void is NOT justified by the context of this verse. In fact, this passage says that just as the rain and snow DO NOT RETURN to Him but do things on the earth, so His Word DOES NOT RETURN to Him (empty) but it also does things on the earth. It’s not that His Word doesn’t “return” empty; it’s that it doesn’t have to “return” at all. You can speak His Word on the earth and the angels will back that Word (Psalm 103:20), but the Word is really staying on the earth, not “returning” to God in heaven. He “sent” His Word and healed them; there is no indication that His Word that healed them had to return to its Sender to accomplish its work any more than the rain and snow would have to return to heaven to accomplish their tasks. When God commanded light to “be,” His Word didn’t have to boomerang back to Him before there could be light.)
Just as a seed contains within itself the ability to grow and produce a harvest, the Word of God contains within itself the ability to produce a harvest. “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
Do You Have Ears to Hear?
In the parable of the sower, it was up to you to have ears to hear. The seed can either produce a hundredfold in you or get choked out and produce nothing in you. The difference is the ground because it’s the same seed. The kind of ground you are depends upon whether or not you have ears to continue hearing the gospel.
Paul said that you are God’s husbandry (farm) in 1 Corinthians 3:9. You are a farm where God’s precious seed is planted. How you care for that seed will determine how it will grow in your life, if at all.
Plant Now for a Future Harvest!
It is not a good time to start looking at healing Scriptures when the doctor tells you that you have three months to live. That would be like a farmer saying to his wife, “Honey, we only have two days of food left in the house. Quick, let’s go out into the field and plant some seed today!” Seed takes time to grow. The time to plant seed is before you need the harvest, not when you need the harvest!
Prayer Is Not Seed
Many sick people are under the delusion that prayer is the key to healing, and that the longer they pray, and the more people they get praying for their healing, the more likely it will be for them to get healed. That isn’t the answer. The answer is for the sick person to go over healing Scriptures until he sees for himself that it is definitely God’s will to heal him. Prayer is not a substitute for faith! The prayer of faith is extremely short and is prayed only once. You believe that you receive when you pray (Mark 11:24). Long prayers are generally wrong prayers.
Imagine if the ignorant farmer above said to his wife, “Honey, I've got a better idea. Let’s just pray longer and harder and get more people to agree with us. Then corn will come out of the ground and we will have a harvest!” No, it is silly to think that a farmer would get a harvest because people prayed when he did not plant the necessary seed to produce the harvest. When it comes down to it, the only thing capable of producing a harvest is seed!
Sowing Seed into Others’ Lives
It is important to realize that the Word of God is seed when you minister the healing part of the Gospel to someone else. People desperately need to hear that healing was provided in Christ’s atonement. Sharing this with them will do infinitely more good than just offering to pray with them about their condition. Prayer is good, but to get a harvest of healing, they need God's Word on the subject, because nothing else can produce faith – not even prayer. Praying with them is like handing them a fish, while giving them God’s Word on the matter is like teaching them to fish.