In the beginning of the beginnings, God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirited and were at peace. Then God created the angels, and at first there was peace. Then a great rebellion took place in Heaven and the unity of the universe was fractured. It has been divided into two kingdoms that are at war. There is the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the Adversary. One is a kingdom of light and truth and goodness and life, and one is a dominion of darkness, chaos, confusion, rebellion and death.

In the kingdom of God, the Creator rules His subjects according to His good will. In the dominion of darkness, the Prince of Darkness rules his subjects.

This war will eventually end. The kingdom of God will triumph over the kingdom of the Adversary. All evil will be completely eliminated, and peace and life will be restored to the entire universe.

Mankind’s great problem is that because of the Fall, human beings are born into the dominion of darkness. If we do nothing, we remain part of the kingdom of the Adversary and share in the ultimate destiny of that Prince and his kingdom – rejection by God, followed by punishment and eternal destruction in the Lake of Fire.

We must do something – something radical, something transformational in order to leave the kingdom of darkness and enter to the kingdom of God.

Messiah Yeshua knew that it is essential that we become faithful subjects of the King before we leave this world, and He communicated this need to others.

Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God.

Yeshua proclaimed the message that God is real and He has a kingdom that is real! God is a good and wise and holy and eternal King. He created human beings in His image, and is grieved over our alienation from Him. We are estranged from the King and need to be reconciled to Him. This great king loves us and wants us to become part of His good and beneficial kingdom, and rule over us forever and ever, but for that to happen, we must end our rebellion! We must put an end to our rebellious ways.

We must acknowledge that the Lord is the King, and start doing things the King’s way. We need to turn away from our rebellion, our sins, our self-will, and commit ourselves to do the will of the King.

To help us overcome the forces of Satan, sin and death, and become part of the kingdom of God, the High King, God the Father, sent His Son, King Yeshua, into this world. We must recognize and welcome the King Messiah that God sent. It is King Messiah who makes reconciliation with God, salvation, entrance into the kingdom of God possible for those who know this and are faithful to this.

An unusual entourage accompanied King Yeshua as He went from city to village, telling people about the kingdom of God.

The twelve were with Him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.

You might think that King Yeshua wouldn’t be interested in women, because they didn’t have much social or political power. If He was interested in them, you might think that King Yeshua would only be interested in women who were rich and who could support Him – but Rabbi Yeshua was interested in rich women and poor women, women from high social levels, and low social levels. He was interested in them because He knew that they are made in the image of God, and are therefore exceedingly precious and valuable. They were worth His time, His attention, His interest. They too must enter the kingdom of God.

I think it was very unusual for women to follow a rabbi around from place to place like this. But, Rabbi King Yeshua was different from most rabbis. He interacted with women and allowed women to be part of his traveling entourage.

Some women traveled with the Rabbi and helped out and supported Him and His male disciples as Yeshua was telling the Jewish people about the kingdom of God.

That tells us that women are very important to Yeshua and to God, and can make valuable contributions to the mission. Even though women are very important to God and the work of the ministry, women were not the leaders then and are not to be the leaders now. Leadership is reserved for the men.

Next Luke gives us one of the longest and most important of Yeshua’s teachings – the Parable of the Four Soils. Its length tells us that this teaching is important. Its subject – how to become part of the kingdom of God, is also very very important.

When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him (again, Yeshua was very popular. He was making a tremendous impact on the Chosen Nation).

Yeshua was a very great evangelist – perhaps the greatest ever. Not only did He take the initiative to go from city to village, bringing the good news about entering God’s kingdom, but many were coming to Him from everywhere! This is the way to engage in evangelism. You don’t wait for people to come to you. If you first go them, you will find that they are more likely to come to you. If you will not go to them, they are less likely to come to you.

When a large crowd came together, He spoke by way of a parable. A parable is short story that is designed to make a comparison and teach a lesson.

The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.

Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.

Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.

As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant. And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

A mystery is a kind of hidden knowledge that is being revealed. In this parable, King Yeshua is revealing knowledge about how men and women enter the kingdom of God. He is revealing these truths to help many human beings make sure that they really enter God’s kingdom.

Why did the King speak in parables and not in a straightforward way? He spoke in parables because He wants those who are committed to Him and committed to the truth to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God – especially how to enter God’s kingdom. But to those who are not His followers and are not committed to the truth that He teaches – they are better off if they don’t learn these mysteries. They are better off seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

Ray Stedman helps us understand this. “It’s not that Yeshua doesn’t want human beings to turn to God and be saved. It’s not that He is hiding truth so that they won’t turn to God and be forgiven. That can’t be what this means. God’s will is that all men turn to God and come to a saving knowledge of the truth.

To understand what Yeshua means we must know that Messiah is not originating this statement. He is quoting from the book of Isaiah. Yeshua is speaking in parables because what happened in the time of Isaiah is happening again. History is repeating itself. In Isaiah’s day, the hearts of the majority of the Jewish people had grown insensitive to God, their ears dull, and their eyes dim. Who closed the eyes of the majority of the Jewish people in the days of Isaiah? Not God. The people closed them. And why did they close their eyes? Because the majority didn’t want to turn to God with all their hearts and souls. And the same thing was happening in the days of Yeshua”.

Yeshua spoke in parables because He knew that hearing the truth clearly spoken without the willingness to put the truth into practice, makes a person’s spiritual condition worse. Hearing the truth and then rejecting the truth results in greater judgment. The more you know, the guiltier you are if you don’t act on that knowledge. A person is better off never hearing the truth, than hearing the truth and rejecting it.

Speaking in parables was the Rabbi’s way of not throwing pearls in front of pigs. It should be understood as Yeshua’s wisdom and mercy – trying to prevent human beings from rejecting truth and becoming guiltier and incurring a greater judgment.

We too need wisdom so that we don’t throw our pearls of truth before the swine of indifference. We want to communicate so that we enlighten the committed, but don’t add judgment to the uncommitted.

But, those who are committed to the King and the truth He brings need to know the meaning of the parable of the four soils, which Yeshua provided. Now the parable is this:

The seed is the word of God. The seed is truth about God, truth about His kingdom, truth about our need for salvation, truth about Yeshua being the way to enter God’s Kingdom. These truths are simple yet extremely powerful. These truths can make a life-changing and eternity-changing impact on the life of an individual.

The sower is anyone who brings the truth about the kingdom of God and Yeshua and salvation to human beings.

The seed remains the same in all four situations. The sower remains the same in all four situations. The thing that is different are the responses. Human beings will respond to the truth about God and Yeshua and salvation in four different ways. The different responses to the truth are the four kinds of soil.

The First Response To The Truth Is The Soil Beside The Road: This Group Has No Commitment To The Truth

Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

Soil that is right beside the road is packed down. The seed can’t get into the soil to geminate. It remains on the surface of the hard soil, where it was destroyed by people who ignored the truth and walked on it. It was also eaten by the birds, which are Satan and the demons, who are able to immediately take away the truth.

This tells us something very instructive about the activity of the fallen angels. God is graciously at work, using human beings who know Him to bring human beings who don’t know Him, the truth that can save them. The truth will come from personal contact from one human being to another. The truth will come through conversations and sermons, through drama, film, music and art. The truth will be proclaimed by means of radio, TV, the Internet, books, magazines, pamphlets, CDs and other media.

At the same time that God is bringing truth to people, the Adversary of God and his demonic assistants are doing what they can to keep human beings away from the truth. The fallen angels will try to keep human beings in a state of ignorance and unbelief. They will use distractions like pleasure and entertainments. They will use false religions and philosophies to confuse and suppress the truth. They will use fear and intimidation to keep people from the truth. By these and other methods, they try to keep people from the truth, and in many cases, are very successful.

So, the first response is those human beings who hear the truth but immediately reject the truth that can save them, and so they remain part of the kingdom of darkness. They will be judged and condemned.

The Second Response To The Truth Is The Seed On Rocky Soil: This Group Has Shallow Commitment That Does Not Endure

The second group have a different initial response, but the outcome is the same. These people hear the truth about God, the Good News about salvation, about forgiveness, and atonement, about Heaven, about living eternally with God, about having peace and joy, and it all sounds so good! And they immediately receive the truth with delight! Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy.

But their story doesn’t end there. Unpleasant things happen to them and they turn away from the truth. And these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. This group are like soil that is on top of a layer of rock. The seed is able to get in the soil and germinate and start growing a little plant, but the young plant is unable to sink its roots deep in the shallow soil. Because the roots are unable to go down deep enough to remain cool and have enough water to sustain the plant, when the sun comes up the plant dies.

The problem with this group is shallow commitment to the truth. They are committed to the truth, to God and to Messiah and salvation and Heaven and eternal life as long as this commitment doesn’t cause them discomfort – which it will. Persecution, testing, trials are part of the normal experience of the sons and daughters of God. But when that happens, those with shallow commitment turn away from the truth.

Although they may have received the truth for a while, their faith wasn’t genuine, saving belief, because true believers remain with the truth. True believers persevere. True believers endure to the end and are saved. These people are ultimately no better off than the people in the first group who immediately rejected the truth and did not believe and will not be saved.

We help this group by telling people not only the Good News – the good and positive aspects that result from the truth, but also the bad news – the difficulties that embracing the truth in a fallen, demonically controlled world, will bring.

We should tell people that embracing the truth that will save them doesn’t guarantee them a problem-free life in this world. We need to tell them that there is a cost to discipleship. The cost will be temptations and trials, problems and persecutions – but the cost is well worth paying for the eternal reward that is gained!

We should also tell them that God’s grace will be sufficient to meet their needs, and help them overcome their trials and problems, and keep them alive until they complete their mission; and then they will die and rise again to live forever in God’s eternal kingdom!

The Third Response To The Truth Is The Seed Among The Thorns: This Group Has Confused Commitment

The third group are people who respond to the truth, and remain with the truth for a longer period of time, but because they lose focus, and get distracted by other things, they don’t succeed, and the eventual outcome for them is the same as the first two groups – remaining part of the dominion of darkness.

The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

These people hear the truth and respond to it. But, over time, these people lose their focus. They get distracted and entangled by the things of the world, by materialism, by the desire for a comfortable life, by money and status and power.

They lose their first love. They don’t keep their eye focused on Yeshua. They lose that singleness of sight which is so important. They become double-minded.

They start to desire other things more than serving God and following Messiah and embracing His mission, His goals, His agenda, His message. They want to pursue the world and Heaven, God and money, the spirit and the flesh. Eventually, they turn away from God and Messiah and Messiah’s mission and their commitment to the truth ends.

We should never cater to this desire to mix the message of Messianic salvation with a message of materialism – that the truth will make you richer or your life easier or more comfortable. But, the loathsome and corrupt and perverse and damnable “Prosperity Teaching” does just that. It is better named, “The Gospel Of The Seed Among The Thorns” or “The Deceitfulness of Riches Gospel”.

Don’t get distracted from the truth. Stay focused on serving the King, on doing His will, on Messiah’s mission, on your spiritual duties and responsibilities. Stay on target. Stay on task! Stay the course!

This third group may endure longer than the second group – who quickly fell away – but this group of people also never produce the desired result. They produce no fruit. Their lives are ultimately unfruitful, unproductive failures. Their fruitless lives show over time that they didn’t have genuine faith that will save them.

Finally, we come to the fourth group, the response we want to make sure we have made. The fourth group are those who hear the truth about the kingdom of God, Messiah, salvation, eternal life in the New Jerusalem, and accept the truth, and act on the truth and stay committed to the truth throughout their lives, and proved that they are really sons and daughters of the King of Heaven.

The Fourth Response To The Truth Is The Seed In The Good Soil: This Group Has Full Commitment And Are Marvelously And Eternally Saved!

But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

These are the ones who hear the truth about God, Messiah, salvation, eternal life; they hear and recognize the truth, and accept the truth and stay committed to the truth throughout their lives – through joy and sadness; though good times and bad times; through times of victory and times of disappointment.

They find out that the Bible is divinely inspired and true and they believe it and stick with it. They stay close to God, and cling to Messiah Yeshua. They embrace Messiah’s teachings, and goals, and values and agenda. They become committed disciples and followers and take up Yeshua’s great mission to bring the truth to the rest of the world. They don’t get distracted by persecutions, or by the worries of the world, or by riches and pleasures of this life.

What makes the difference between remaining part of the Kingdom of darkness and sharing its destiny, or becoming part of the kingdom of God and living forever? It is simply hearing the simple Gospel, the Good News, the truth about God and Yeshua and salvation, and accepting the truth, and living your life in accord with the truth for the rest of your life.

The people in the first group, who have no commitment to the truth, are not saved. Despite their initial, limited reception of the truth, the people in the second and third groups are not saved either. It is those who prove by commitment and adherence to the truth throughout their lives that they are genuine disciples. It is those who despite trials and temptation, endure to the end, who are saved.

One final thought: We should understand that many who “make decisions”, who “prayer the prayer of salvation”, will prove over time that they never ever entered the Kingdom of God. It’s not always possible to tell at first who are the true disciples, who are the real sons and daughters of God, and who are not, since many will show initial enthusiasm, but make shallow commitments, or confused commitments, and then fall away from the saving truth. Time and circumstances will reveal the wheat from the tares.

May the Living God give each one of us the grace to reflect on the four soils, and examine our lives, and make the necessary changes to ensure that we are true citizens of the Kingdom of God!

And, may each one of us be good and faithful sowers of the seed of truth that alone can save human beings!