DIVINE SOWING
[p. 210] DIVINE SOWING
Matthew 13:3; Matthew 13:23; Matthew 13:37,38
I wish to speak about divine sowing, which is the subject of this section in Matthew. Satanic sowing is also spoken of in this section, which I only mention now, perhaps coming to it a little later, but the thought in my mind is divine sowing. God had it in mind from the outset. The more we look into the first chapter of the Bible, the more we shall be impressed with what God had in mind as opened out later. What we get there is the earth as come out of the general chaotic engulfed state of things, out of the waters, and it is called “the dry land”. “Let the dry land appear” was the divine word. And then, as it appears, we have the great general features of fertility or fruitfulness, so that the earth was to cause the grass to spring forth; that is, there was in it latently the power of life, set there by God. No doubt the submerged conditions may be regarded as tending to this power of fertility, which God intended in His wise ways to use, and “the earth brought forth grass, herb producing seed after its kind, and trees yielding fruit, the seed of which is in them” (Genesis 1: 12). We have thus, dear brethren, the idea of soil for sowing, which is never lost sight of throughout the Scriptures, having in mind men, women and children divinely prepared for the reception of the work of God. The idea may also cover a certain barrenness from mere profession, but the general thought is that God should sow in soil which would bring forth a crop. Later the idea was marred in the sin of Adam and Eve which caused the curse, and briars and thorns came up. Fertility was in it indeed, but the land yielded but a little, not in its full strength, showing how sin affects the soil in men and women.
[p. 211] Then we find that in the histories of the heavens and the earth, before sin came in, there is an allusion to the “herb of the field before it grew” (Genesis 2: 5), God taking account of us potentially, as He can, as knowing the end from the beginning. He reckons according to the end, for everything must conform to His mind and there can be no discrepancy between the divine requirement and the divine results — they fit exactly. In the histories of the heavens and the earth we have the herb and the shrub all taken account of before they grew; and then, as I said, they come under the curse. How terrible the curse, and how terrible the possibility of our bringing the curse upon ourselves. It is not characteristically the time of curse, thank God, but the idea is not excluded, the idea applies, and the solemn warning is that the action of sin or will in us renders us sterile and unfruitful. Peter deals with this, as other writers do. But the flood, the deluge, was a wonderful matter, much more wonderful than we are prone to think it, not simply in the outpouring of the waters and the springing up of the waters, but in the divine design that entered into it, in the presentation of Christ and His death in it. So that we return in Genesis 8 to seed-time and harvest; there is no suggestion of sterility at all. You can understand it, beloved brethren, because it is a question of God’s way of looking at things abstractly, ignoring that which is not in accord with that with which He is dealing. He has a right so to regard things and He does, so that it says He “smelled the sweet odour”, a savour of rest, and it says “Jehovah said in his heart ...” One of the most interesting things is that God says things in His heart. The words of God are not very often mentioned in Scripture — they are mentioned — but what He says in His heart is certainly most interesting; His whole Being, so to say, is in it. He “said in his heart ... Henceforth, all the days of the [p. 212] earth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease”. That is the state of things physically up to the present time and it will continue while the earth remains. But I speak of it in its spiritual significance, dear brethren, that this seed time and harvest, the two seasons, run on concurrently. I mean to say, seed time may be today, and the harvest of a previous sowing may be today too. That makes it wonderfully interesting, that a gospel meeting may be both: the seed may be sown for a future harvest, and the harvest of an earlier sowing may be reaped; we should have an eye for that.
We get later the idea of a field, not simply as used in chapter 11, a general plain or level place, but a field as a special part of the earth. God deals with specialities as well as generalities, and so does Satan. So when Jehovah directed Abraham to look to the east and to the west and to the north and to the south, the whole breadth of the land, and said it should all be his, that is a great generality.
The gospel presents great generalities, that is to say, great truths that are applicable to all, but it also presents specialities. And so you find with Abraham the purchase of a field. A field that I believe will yield a greater crop of fruit than any field. That is the field that Abraham bought of Ephron the Hittite with current money of the merchant. It was a definite transaction on both sides. It had reference, beloved brethren, to the burying place of the lovers of Christ, of the dead in Christ. You will observe in reading the well-known chapter which treats of the subject of the first burial recorded in Scripture, that much more is made of the field and the cave than is made even of the dead saint, that is, Sarah. Not that she is not spoken of as she should be, for Scripture is not only verbally accurate but spiritually accurate, and so we find the years of the life of that dear saint [p. 213] of God, that sister, who is classified among the holy women of old — a model sister. The Spirit of God dwells upon the years, not simply of Sarah, but “the years of the life of Sarah” (Genesis 23: 1). She is the seed, but what is in the mind of God is the life of that dear saint, the years of the life mentioned twice, as you will observe, in that verse. “The life of Sarah was a hundred and twenty-seven years: these were the years of the life of Sarah”. She is the first to be sown in this field; she is one of the dead in Christ. It is well for us, dear brethren, to face this matter of dying in Christ. Blessed are they, it says later, “who die in the Lord from henceforth” (Revelation 14: 13) under certain circumstances. It is blessed to live in Christ — “the years of the life of Sarah”. It is blessed to die in Christ — “to depart and to be with Christ” indeed. Sarah is the first, as I said, to be buried, to be sown, in that field. Jacob refers to it and refers to others who joined her, the great family of the dead in Christ who shall rise first. What a crop will appear! I am using the agricultural term because Scripture does. Scripture makes the clearest possible statement as to the dead in Christ, that the dead saint is “sown in corruption”, a very sorrowful consideration and yet it has to be faced, “Sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruptibility”. “Sown in dishonour” — a word we had better note too; whatever our ancestors, whatever our distinctions in this world, king or beggar — “sown in dishonour” but “raised in glory”. What a crop, beloved, incorruptible persons standing up in that field, as it were, honourable, glorious persons come up out of that sowing standing there side by side. “Sown in weakness” we are told, for it is really a question not of breathing out but breathing in, “Sown in weakness, it is raised in power”. Think of these things put together. “Sown”, again it says, “a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body”. Put these four [p. 214] things together, dear brethren, and you will become encouraged to face death if it be the will of God that we should die. And it is the will of God; that is the thought of the death of the saints in Scripture. Moses, who represents the ministry, standing out pre-eminently as dying by the will of God. He went up to die at the direction of God. So that these four things put together in our souls as a matter of faith enable us to face death, to face it victoriously, because of our knowledge, of our faith of the operation of God that raised Christ. For Christ is the first-fruits, again an agricultural term, as I may say, “Then those that are the Christ’s at his coming”. What a glorious prospect enters into that field. The Spirit of God stresses that the money was weighed out by Abraham, “four hundred shekels of silver, current with the merchant;” there is no question about it. It is a question of what the Lord Jesus has secured now, a right of way for the burial of His people where they are watched over, where He can find them, where He will know where to go to get them. He will stand and call them out and they will come out, they will come out in incorruption, in glory, in power, and as spiritual. What an army, what a family, all in accord and in correspondence with Christ the First-fruits, “those that are the Christ’s at his coming”. And indeed we are told, so as to make it more glorious, “they lived and reigned with the Christ a thousand years”. “Blessed and holy he who has part in the first resurrection”. I am speaking of this because it is so necessary that we should face this matter as real christians, real believers, real men and women of faith as believing in the resurrection, believing in Christ risen — Christ the First-fruits, “then those that are the Christ’s at his coming”. Therefore, as I said, what a field!
Then we have another field in Genesis, a field not for burial, not for sowing, but a field that is spoken [p. 215] of as having a certain odour. It is a person, and if one person, any number of persons of the same kind. Isaac, a type of the risen Man, as Jacob came to him, says, “The smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Jehovah hath blessed” (Genesis 27: 27). What potentialities in Jacob! Scripture is full of it. Later Jehovah says, “I will sow her [meaning Israel] unto me in the land” (Hosea 2: 23), indicating a special place, the place of purpose. For young men and young women as believers are sown unto God in a special place, and what is that special place? Amongst the brethren, in the kingdom of God, in the assembly. They are not to be sown in the world. Suppose any of us has a son with ability to shine in the world, what shall we do? What do, alas, many of our dear brethren? They prepare such a one for the world; they have him educated for it; they are not sowing him in the land, they are sowing him in the world, and what will they get? They will get a crop they do not expect. Maybe they do, maybe they have no other thought. But how sorrowful to sow your son or your daughter in the world. Jehovah says, “I will sow her unto me in the land”. The prophet Hosea is a remarkable prophet, a man full of feeling, whose mind runs rapidly and changes from one thing to another in his affections, because of the state of things in Israel. He is full of denunciation in one breath, and full of praise, full of glorious anticipation in the sovereignty of God in the next. But his son — his firstborn — is called Jizreel, meaning ‘God will sow’. Let God sow our children — of course He will use us to do it — and if God sows them, He will sow them in the land; that is what all our prayers as to them are for at the beginning.
Now I come on to Matthew who would follow up this line as regards sowing. Matthew is the great gospel for young people. Some of you may perhaps think you prefer Luke or John, which I can understand,
[p. 216] but if there is to be sowing in the land as I have been saying, if there is to be sowing and fruit for God assembly-wise, let us understand Matthew. Luke records that the Lord Jesus, when His glorious service was rejected by Israel, rejoiced in spirit (Luke 10: 21). Rejoicing in spirit implies depth of feeling, but intelligent feeling. It was not rejoicing in soul there; we do not get such a thing as “My soul magnifies the Lord” as with Mary (Luke 1: 46), but rejoicing in spirit alludes to intense feeling, buoyant feeling too, and He says, according to both Matthew’s and Luke’s account, “I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes. Yea, Father, for thus has it been well-pleasing in thy sight” (Matthew 11: 25, 26; Luke 10: 21) (similar). That is, He would enlist the young people — you are the ones — meaning those unsophisticated as regards the world, thought little or nothing of in the world. In school you are looked on with scorn because you love Jesus, and in the business place you come under reproach because you love Jesus, because you love the saints. The Lord says, “Babes;” He speaks to the Father about them. Can anything be more interesting than to hear the Lord Jesus speak to the Father about them? And that is what He does. Later, He calls a little child to Him, not now a babe; Scripture, as I said, is perfectly accurate, spiritually as well as verbally; He calls a little child to Him, meaning that the child has advanced a little spiritually and is at the Lord’s call. The Lord is calling you now; He expects certain of you to hear; He would make much of you. He set him amongst the brethren, amongst the disciples. Think of who those disciples were; they were the most distinguished people in the universe and that little child was set amongst them. It is greater to be set amongst them than amongst any society in the world.
[p. 217] That is where he is set, and the Lord calls attention to him. Look at this little child set amongst the brethren; maybe the brethren will not treat him well. That is the place to be sown, amongst the brethren, set up there. He has already made progress. And then we have in chapter 21 a most remarkable thing that one has often spoken of — the very remarkable and instructive incident of children singing in the temple. We love to sing in our sitting-rooms, and rightly singing to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, and making melody in our hearts to the Lord; not merely because the tune is nice, but to the Lord. But here are children singing the praises of Jesus in the temple, and the enemies of Jesus say, ‘Do you hear what these say’ What were they singing? They were saying the most intelligent thing, “Hosanna to the Son of David”. That is what they were saying, one of the finest notes at the time. The Lord said, ‘I heard what they said;’ surely He did, it was delightful to His ear amid the din of that place, the changers of money and the sellers of doves, to hear those accents from the children. “Hosanna to the Son of David” — that is Matthew. He gives the subject in a most orderly and constructive way throughout his gospel. So here Matthew records that the Lord leaves the house at the beginning of chapter 13 and enters into a boat; then in verse 36 He enters into another house. Now the house in which He had been in chapter 12 refers to the world’s house; it refers to the society, beloved young people, that is all around us in the sphere of profession. You may get it in the basements of the church houses; you may get these things that attract the young, worldly things, under a religious guise. The Lord left that — it refers to Judaism — and went out by the sea — then He spake this parable to the multitude. That is to say, the Lord would have a crop such as He had in His mind,
[p. 218] such as Matthew outlines for us, and hence it is said that He spoke a parable saying, “The sower went out to sow”. It is, I apprehend, the sower, not simply any sower, but the real one, for the sower here is Christ, although it does not say so. He went forth to sow; the idea is He is the Sower — it is the characterising word of this passage that He is the Sower, and He has gone forth to sow, and He outlines the soil. There are four different kinds of soil, as we have often noticed. I only read of the fourth kind so as to show you what is current, that the Lord is having results, and no one can afford to be out of those results. The results are a hundredfold, sixty, and thirty. I apprehend the meaning is that, whilst there is a certain decline, the sowing is generally satisfactory. But no man of faith will be content with what is generally satisfactory, he wants the full amount; the Lord does, He looks for it, and hence you will find in the exhortation in the epistles, it is more and more. So that whilst we are not discouraged in what is generally satisfactory, we do not settle down in — more and more is the word — that you may “exceed and abound” more and more — that is the idea. Well now, the result, as I said, is generally satisfactory, and the Lord’s explanation of it is given, because the disciples asked Him not about the soils mentioned or even the seed mentioned, but about the manner of His ministry — why was He ministering in this way? I have not a doubt that the manner of the ministry in these last days in unique, not that it is contrary to what was at the beginning, but it is unique, it belongs to this time. There the enquiry referred to the kind of ministry: Why was He speaking like that? Why was it parabolic? And the Lord explains and He points out that God is acting sovereignly, that He is discriminating in the ministry between persons who are, as we say, mere public professors and persons who have eyes to see; that is [p. 219] what is going on. I was reading only today notes of some ministry transcribed evidently by an unconverted person, and the ignorance is amazing: he or she did not understand the words, and yet they are perfectly simple to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see. The ministry, beloved, that is being given today is not understood, it cannot be understood, by mere professing christians, and yet no one can afford to miss it. I may be under judicial limitations, and how terrible it is that God is obliged to put persons under judicial limitations because of their attitude and hardness. Yet they are not despised, they are the multitude and the Lord keeps on speaking to them, and, in speaking to them, hides the truth; yet it is all there, and perfectly discernible to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see.
After explaining it to His disciples, He goes on immediately to say that a certain man sowed a certain cereal in his field. It does not say that in regard of the first parable; this is speciality, and what is to be observed is that, although the Lord said the field is the world, it is the world from a certain angle, viewed from a certain viewpoint. It is not the Jewish world, nor the heathen world, nor the christianised world, it is the world held in reconciliation. God has a right to that. He has a right to take account of the world from His own point of view and to order it governmentally, so that the seed should make headway, that there should be a crop.
I would refer for the moment to the book of Daniel, to point out the prophetic instruction that explains what God has done to prepare for the gospel. Other things enter into it, of course, but the four monarchies are intended of God to order the world so as to prepare the way for the gospel. And that is the position at the present moment, and I have no doubt that this great empire is held as it is to keep the field open. The field is a large one and it is carefully [p. 220] governed in an external, providential way so that there might be results. This providential way of governing has borne towards the West almost entirely; that is to say, God has a right to the whole field and can use what part of it suits Him — that is the idea. Well now, the Lord says a certain man sowed good seed in his field (verse 24). I want to point out that the seed in this case is not the word of God; that is the seed sown in the earlier parable — as He calls it, the word of the kingdom (verse 19). I have no doubt that Romans is the word of the kingdom for us, and the right understanding of it makes sons of the kingdom. We shall never understand Romans until we arrive at the idea of sons of the kingdom. Not only are we brought into a kingdom, but we are made a kingdom, and that is the idea of sons, fully developed persons in regard of the particular matter before us. And that is the idea, dear brethren, that, having believed the gospel and received the Spirit, we develop into sons of the kingdom, and then we are sown in this field so that there might be others like us, sown in the land, as we were seeing in Hosea. Not that any christian should think of himself, but certainly he should never stop in his growth, and his desire should be that he might see others like himself. The primary thought is that we are all to be like Christ, to the end that He is presented in testimony here. The sons of the kingdom, those developed in the kingdom, are sown here in the field so that there might be others like them. Well now, that brings out, dear brethren, what we are in the mind of God as having believed the gospel, how that God, as it were, says, ‘You might have been taken up at once into paradise, but no, you are to stay here’. That is a very solemn matter. The man in Luke 8 wanted to be with the Lord, but the Lord said, ‘No, you stay there where you are’. He is a son of the kingdom, he is seen at the feet of Jesus, sitting, clothed and in his [p. 221] right mind. What was in the Lord’s mind was to have another like him there, and another like him there, and another like him there, and to have a meeting there. The devil does not like that, and he sows his own sons, a vicious progeny indeed, but there they are, set down alongside of the believers in Christ. We are left here so that there might be others like us. The devil would spoil that by imitation, and so, dear brethren, the point is to be like Christ, so that, although you cannot fully imitate Him, yet when a needy soul comes in contact with you they may be able to say that there is christianity, there is the power of the kingdom. So the apostle says, “We ought, we that are strong, to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15: 1). Selfishness amongst us disqualifies us to be sown as sons of the kingdom. There is a power that goes with unselfishness, for the sons of the kingdom are strong. They have grown up in the kingdom of the heavens; hence the Lord has confidence in them as He had in that man whom He left in Decapolis, so that there might be others like him, and others like him, and that there might be assemblies in Decapolis. That is the thought, dear brethren.
That was all I had to bring before you at this time, and I think you will see, particularly in what I have just been saying, that there are to be left here in power true Roman christians — sons of the kingdom in power here so that there might be multiplication and increase of our own kind.